Can Poole, who has unlimited firing rights, be Harden 11 years ago?

Can Poole, who is also 23 years old, also wearing the No. 13 jersey and has unlimited firing rights in the new season, become Harden 11 years ago?

Poole hasn't played a game for the Wizards yet, but the Washington media has thrown up the interesting topic. Going from the sixth man of a championship team to the leading scorer of a rebuilding team is a situation that Harden experienced 11 years ago. Harden was also 23 years old at the time, and the bearded man seized that opportunity to become a superstar in the league, what about Poole? Does he have a chance to get into the ranks of stars?

Last season, Poole's sluggish performance was in the spotlight, and he was very efficient when the Warriors won the championship in 2022. The biggest difference is that Poole's shooting efficiency plummets in the 2023 playoffs, shooting just 34.1 percent from the field and 25.4 percent from three-point range.

However, Poole still averaged 20.4 points per game in the regular season last season, shooting 43% from the field, which is not too bad, and for reference, former Wizards star Arenas shot 42.1% from the field in his career.

There's no doubt that Poole's shots with the Wizards will skyrocket, and for him, 20 points or more in a game should become commonplace. At media day, reporters asked Poole how green the green light was (referring to unlimited fire rights), and Poole responded that "as green as Washington, the coach gave me the opportunity to be myself and play freely, which I think will be very exciting."

So, what kind of metrics does Poole need to achieve in order to play a great season? In the first four years of his career, he had already tasted a championship, but he also had a huge asterisk around him: he had never played for a team that did not open space for him by the greatest goalscorer of all time.

The former bench has grown into a later main force and even a star, and the NBA has no shortage of such examples. After Bradsoe left Paul, there were several seasons close to All-Star performance; Reggie Jackson also brushed out relatively empty stats on a mediocre Pistons team after leaving Western.

And, of course, Harden mentioned above. Turn the clock back 11 years, after Harden said goodbye to Wilson and Durant, not many people thought he would become a superstar. It can be said that Harden's performance exceeded everyone's expectations, and he was selected as an All-Star for 10 consecutive years starting in the 2012-13 season.

Poole has been given unlimited firing rights for the new season, similar to what Harden received with the Rockets 11 years ago. In some ways, he is better treated than Harden, after all, Harden was not even the highest-paid player on the team when he first went to the Rockets, and Poole's annual salary ($27.45 million) for the new season is already the first place in the Wizards.

In his first year with the Rockets, Harden recorded 25.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists. What kind of performance will Poole play in the new season without Curry? Comments are welcome.