Warriors’ competition to fill in for Klay Thompson appears to be decided

SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Poole has impressed the Warriors enough through the first week-plus of the preseason that he appears to have put an early wrap on the starting shooting guard competition.

“He’s playing so well it’s tough to envision not keeping him there,” coach Steve Kerr said before Golden State hosted Denver in its second preseason game Wednesday evening. “For now, he’ll be in that starting spot.”

Poole, 22, was a favorite to fill in for Klay Thompson as he continues to rehab his right Achilles tendon, which is expected to keep him out at least into December. The former first round pick has earned raves entering his third NBA season.

Poole dropped 30 points on a personal-best seven 3-pointers in the Warriors’ preseason opener Monday at Portland. He followed it up by leading the Warriors again with 17 points Wednesday night in his second straight start.

Poole and Curry were the Warriors’ most effective duo last season, Kerr said.

New assistant coach Kenny Atkinson raised Kerr’s attention to the analytics backing up the strength of the pairing.

“We just like to feed off each other’s energy,” Poole said of his dynamic with Curry. “I think that’s big in the offensive rhythm and flow. As long as we get our camaraderie and our chemistry together, I feel like we can definitely be dangerous, for sure.”

General manager Bob Myers said the Warriors are counting on Poole stepping into the offensive void left by Thompson.

“He’s worked at it. He’s earned it,” Myers said on the NBC Bay Area broadcast. “We need that offense until Klay gets back. A lot of our struggles (last season) were offensively. Our defense, we think we can be good in. But offensively, there were some times where it wasn’t pretty last year. Steph was great, and we still didn’t do a great job. So Poole, he’s gonna step into that void. It’s almost as if we’re counting on that, certainly until Klay gets back.”

Poole has led the Warriors in minutes in each of their first two preseason games. He was the first starter to re-enter the game Wednesday night and shared the court with a variety of rotations.

The young guard’s scoring ability has never been in question, but Kerr and company have wanted to see him progress defensively in his third professional season.

Early returns?

“I told him afterward that as he makes his defensive effort to improve, he gave up a couple of back cuts for layups (and) made a couple of mistakes in rotation,” Kerr said after Monday’s game. “That’s just his next step in becoming a great player.”

Another player who figures to play a key role in filling in for Thompson got the night off.

Kerr and Andre Iguodala determined that the 37-year-old would benefit more from the rest.

“He’s just old,” Kerr said. “I told him there is no reason for him to play five preseason games, so he’ll probably play three is my guess.”

Jordan Bell, who missed the game in Portland for personal reasons, was back with the team Wednesday.