Pelicans trade CJ McCollum to Wizards for Jordan Poole

Jordan Poole (YouTube)

There was a blockbuster trade on Tuesday in the National Basketball Association. According to Rogers Sportsnet, the New Orleans Pelicans traded guard CJ McCollum of Canton, Ohio, and Canadian center Kelly Olynyk of Toronto, Ontario to the Washington Wizards for shooting guard Jordan Poole of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and small forward Saddiq Bey of Charlotte, North Carolina.

McCollum is joining his third NBA franchise. The 2015-16 Most Improved Player award winner was with the Portland Trail Blazers from 2013 to 2022, before four seasons with the Pelicans from 2022 to 2025. In 2024-25, McCollum averaged 21.1 points per game, 4.1 assists per game, and 3.8 rebounds per game. He had a field goal percentage of .444, free throw percentage of .717, and three point percentage of .373.

Poole is joining his third NBA franchise. He was previously with the Golden State Warriors from 2019 to 2023, and the Wizards the last two seasons. While with the Warriors, Poole won the 2022 NBA Finals. In 2024-25, Poole averaged 20.5 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, three rebounds per game, and 1.3 steals per game. Poole also had a field goal percentage of .432, three point percentage of .378, and free throw percentage of .883.

In an interesting statistic, Poole and McCollum have something significant in common. According to Basketball Reference, they have both led the NBA once in their careers in best free throw percentage shooting in a single season. Poole had a NBA high .925 free throw percentage with the Warriors in 2021-22. McCollum had a NBA high .912 free throw percentage with the Trail Blazers in 2016-17. It should be noted that Bey did not play all of 2024-25 because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament while with the Atlanta Hawks in 2023-24.

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