The Golden State Warriors are in a transitional period. Franchise legend Klay Thompson left for the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade. Cornerstones Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are in their mid-30s with probably only a few years left before they start to contemplate retirement.
The team must either look to make a trade or hope for one of its young players to make a leap to All-Star status in 2024-2025.
Combo guard Brandin Podziemski has a chance to be the answer. Steve Kerr has been near-hyperbolic in his praise of Podz, even defending him during rough patches throughout his rookie campaign in 2023-2024. Per USA Today, Kerr said in March about Podziemski:
“I don’t care if he scores or not. He is in every one of our best lineups. He is our best plus-minus guy (plus-3.8) for the year. He is really good, no matter whether he is scoring or not. I know, especially as a rookie, that he’ll have ups and downs from a scoring standpoint, and right now, he is in a down period.
"But he allows other guys to play well just because of his recognition of what is happening on the floor, his cuts, ball movement, spacing. I’m thrilled with Brandin, and as long as he keeps playing as hard as he is, he’ll be out there."
Podziemski has intangibles that are difficult to quantify on a stat sheet. He’s just as capable of hitting a big shot down the stretch of a game as he is of guarding the other team’s point guard, but often he’ll focus on the little things.
Diving for loose balls, setting hard screens and hyping up his teammates after a stunning pass are often Podz’s biggest contributions. The Dubs need a lot more than a role player’s bag of tricks if they want to reappear in the Western Conference’s upper echelon, though.
Golden State is offensively challenged. Curry is going to be on an island in the backcourt for much of 2024-2025 unless Podziemski can improve his shooting and scoring numbers.
Podziemski averaged 9.2 points and only 1.2 three-pointers made per game last season. He needs to start letting the treys fly, possibly even to the point where his volume equals that of Thompson, who has fired at least seven per game each of the past five seasons. It seems unfair to ask Podz to mimic a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but that's the type of jump the Warriors need.
This season, Podziemski should target about 15 points and six or seven assists per game. He’s already a great rebounder for his position, corralling nearly six boards per game in his rookie year.
Improving his skills and chasing a second-option mindset next to Curry will give Golden State a better idea of whether Podziemski is actually a building block or if he should be used as trade bait.
