Poole, Durant trades remind Dub Nation of difficulty of keeping a dynasty

Now in New Orleans and Houston respectively, both former Warriors heroes face the brutal reality that championship magic doesn’t always travel.

Six years ago, Kevin Durant left the Golden State Warriors and Jordan Poole was drafted to the Dubs. Three years ago, when the Warriors lifted that 2022 championship trophy, it felt like the culmination of something beautiful. The Splash Brothers had reclaimed their throne without Durant, proving Golden State’s championship core was self-sustaining. Meanwhile, Jordan Poole emerged as the heir apparent to Curry’s magic, dropping 17 points in Game 6 of the Finals with the poise of a seasoned veteran.

Fast forward to June 2025, and here’s the cruel irony: both Poole and Durant—two essential pieces of that Warriors championship dynastic puzzle—are now trying to recreate that winning formula somewhere else. The basketball gods have a twisted sense of humor.

The Poole Party Moves to New Orleans

Poole was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for CJ McCollum, with the Wizards receiving veteran leadership while the Pelicans bet on youth. For Poole, this represents his third team in four years. That’s a sobering reality for someone who once looked destined to be Curry’s successor in Golden State.

But here’s the brutal truth: good stats on bad teams don’t win championships. The Pelicans are gambling that pairing Poole with Zion Williamson creates something magical, but they’re now spending championship money for potentially non-championship production.

The Poole experiment in New Orleans feels like a desperate attempt to capture lightning in a bottle. Remember, this is the same player who in 2022 looked like he could be the third star on a championship team. Now he’s being asked to be the primary creator for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2018. I like Poole as a player a LOT and hope that he keeps his ascent going down in the Big Easy. But, with that roster? It won’t be, well, easy.

Durant’s Houston Homecoming

Meanwhile, Kevin Durant’s journey has taken an even more circuitous route. The Phoenix Suns traded Durant to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 draft, and five second-round picks. At 36 years old, this represents what might be Durant’s final opportunity to add another championship to his legacy.

The Rockets present a fascinating proposition for Durant. Houston went 52-30 in 2024-25 for their first winning record since 2019-20, finishing as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. More importantly, they pushed the Warriors to seven games in the first round—the same Warriors team that eliminated them from championship contention back when Durant was helping Golden State win titles.

Durant averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists a game for Phoenix last season, proving he’s still an elite scorer. But This isn’t just about adding talent; it’s about solving specific problems. The Rockets have young legs and defensive intensity, but they desperately needed a go-to scorer who could create offense when the pace slowed down. Durant, even at 36, remains one of basketball’s most lethal shot creators.

The Warriors’ Vindication Complex

What makes this story particularly fascinating is how it reflects on the Warriors’ 2022 championship. That title wasn’t just about proving they could win without Durant. It was about validating their entire organizational philosophy. They developed Poole into a champion, integrated him seamlessly with their veteran core, and showed that Golden State’s system could elevate players beyond their apparent ceiling.

But championship windows are unforgiving. The Draymond Green-Jordan Poole incident fractured that harmony, and the Warriors ultimately decided that keeping their championship core together was more important than developing their heir apparent. It was a painful but pragmatic decision that sent Poole on this nomadic journey through the league.

Durant’s departure from Golden State was different (well he also had a run-in with Draymond but I digress). He left and showcased his greatness somewhere other than Golden State. His stops in Brooklyn and Phoenix were ultimately unsuccessful, and now he’s joining a young Houston team that feels like they have plenty to show and prove.

The Championship Imperative

Both players are now in situations where championship expectations feel both possible and precarious. The Pelicans are betting that Poole can be the missing piece that unlocks Zion’s potential, but they’re working against the clock of Williamson’s injury history and their own financial constraints.

The Rockets, meanwhile, are making a win-now push that could either vault them into title contention or saddle them with an aging superstar’s declining years. As the ESPN report stated “Houston was an offensively impaired team that surrendered nothing of serious consequence for an all-time great scorer”, which makes this trade low-key feel like highway robbery.

The 2022 Warriors championship now feels like a moment frozen in time, like the last hurrah of an era where Poole looked destined for stardom and Durant seemed like he could win anywhere. Three years later, both players are essentially trying to recreate that magic, but the league has moved on. The Western Conference is more brutal than ever, and the margin for error has shrunk to almost nothing.

Both Poole and Durant will face immediate pressure to justify their new situations. The Pelicans need Poole to become the floor general they’ve lacked since Chris Paul’s departure. The Rockets need Durant to be the closer who can elevate them from “promising young team” to “legitimate contender.”

The irony isn’t lost on Warriors fans: their 2022 championship was supposed to prove that the organization didn’t need either player to win. Now, as both players chase championships elsewhere, that Warriors title looks more precious than ever, not just for what it accomplished, but for what it represented.

In the end, the Warriors dynasty might have been the last time we see either Jordan Poole or Kevin Durant hoisting a Larry O’Brien trophy. That’s the brutal reality of pursuing greatness in a league where championship windows open and close with devastating speed. Years later, they’re still chasing that golden moment when everything clicked in Golden State, but basketball—like life—is rarely that smooth.