Wizards trading Jordan Poole to Pelicans for CJ McCollum: Sources

The Washington Wizards have agreed to trade guard Jordan Poole, wing Saddiq Bey and the 40th pick in this year’s draft to the New Orleans Pelicans for guard CJ McCollum, big man Kelly Olynyk and a 2027 second-round pick that originally belonged to Chicago, team sources told The Athletic.

Poole, 26, just completed his second season with the Wizards, a comeback season of sorts in which he played point guard extensively and, with the ball in his hands, enhanced his trade value. Poole averaged a career-high 20.5 points per game, tied a career high with 4.5 assists per game and sank a career-high 37.8 percent of his 3-point tries.

As the 2024-25 season continued, and especially after trading Kyle Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks in early February, Washington’s offense improved its ball movement, with shots distributed more democratically, especially among second-year player Bilal Coulibaly and rookies Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George, AJ Johnson and Alex Sarr.

By moving Poole now, the Wizards hope to further increase their ball movement and increase the playmaking opportunities and shot opportunities for the team’s young players, including whomever the Wizards select in this year’s draft, while also incorporating more experienced players such as Khris Middleton, Corey Kispert and McCollum into the mix.

Bey, 26, is fully healed from the March 2024 ACL surgery that forced him to miss the 2024-25 season. Trading Bey will ease, but not eliminate, a crunch for playing time among Washington’s perimeter players, a group that includes Coulibaly, George, Johnson, Kispert, Middleton and now McCollum.

From Washington’s perspective, there is a strong cap-management benefit to this deal, beginning with the 2026 offseason.

With this trade, and specifically by offloading Poole’s onerous contract, the Wizards now project to have as much as $100 million in cap space for the summer of 2026 — cap space that could open an array of roster-construction avenues but most likely will be used that summer to accept contracts in trades if those contracts include future draft picks attached to them. Under Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and Wizards general manager Will Dawkins, who are entering their third seasons in Washington, the Wizards have prioritized adding future draft picks.

Poole is under contract for two more full seasons, at fully guaranteed salaries of $31.9 million for 2025-26 and $34.0 million for 2026-27. Bey is under contract for a fully guaranteed $6.1 million for 2025-26 and a $6.4 million team option for 2026-27.

For McCollum, 33, and Olynyk, 34, the 2025-26 season will be the final year of their current contracts.

McCollum averaged 21.1 points in four seasons with the Pelicans and played a pivotal role in them reaching the playoffs in 2022 and 2024. It also only took him 223 games in New Orleans to go down as the franchise’s all-time leader in 3-pointers (692).

This is the first major move by the Pelicans’ new executive vice president of basketball operations, Joe Dumars, and new senior vice president of basketball operations, Troy Weaver. Weaver spent the 2024-25 season with the Wizards as a senior adviser within the front office and has a strong familiarity with Poole and Bey.

McCollum is expected to add veteran leadership on the Wizards’ roster, which team officials deem important with unrestricted free agent guard Malcolm Brogdon likely to sign elsewhere this summer.

McCollum, who is more comfortable playing off the ball than Poole is, also should help enhance playmaking and shot-creation opportunities for the Wizards’ young players. McCollum is a lower-usage player than Poole and also has a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Poole.

One of the Wizards’ priorities is to retain their own first-round pick for the 2026 draft. Because of a trade made in 2020, Washington would convey its 2026 first-round pick to the New York Knicks if it falls outside the top eight.

By making today’s trade, the Wizards are giving more player-development opportunities for their youngest players and, in the process, likely will increase the likelihood of retaining their 2026 first-round pick.

Today’s trade is expected to be made official on, or after, July 6, with the start of the league’s new cap year.

(Photo of Jordan Poole: G Fiume / Getty Images)