The Golden State Warriors have made their bed. Instead of trading away some of their promising young players, such as Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga, for immediate help in the form of either Paul George or Lauri Markkanen, the Warriors decided that keeping them and hoping they blossom into the stars they need to give Stephen Curry another chance at a ring was their best course of action.
Now, this entails a lot of responsibilities on the shoulders of both Podziemski and Kuminga. Podziemski, in particular, appears to be on track for a starting job after the Warriors let longtime shooting guard Klay Thompson walk in free agency. With this role, however, comes certain requirements from head coach Steve Kerr, with Podziemski revealing what Kerr is asking of him as the 2024-25 campaign inches ever more closely.
“A big focus for them was me shooting more 3s. I don’t know what I shot, but I shot a pretty good percentage. I just didn’t get up enough attempts,” Podziemski said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “They want me to take anywhere (from) eight to 10 per game. That’s what they told me. All different types: off dribble handoffs, off ball screens, catch-and-shoot.”
The Warriors have grand plans to unlock Brandin Podziemski's game even further, and getting him to hoist up more triples might be the most obvious way for them to get his scoring up from the 9.8 points per game he averaged in his rookie campaign. Podziemski shot efficiently from deep last season anyway, at 38.5 percent, but he shot just 3.2 attempts per night. Could he maintain that same kind of efficiency once he ups his volume?
Nevertheless, Podziemski is nothing if not confident. With the touches freed up by the departures of Klay Thompson and Chris Paul, the runway is there for the 21-year-old guard to become an even more impactful player for the Warriors in his sophomore season.
“I think I can get to that amount. The reason they said that is because I’d be watching film last season after every game, and it’s always on there: Missed 3-point opportunity that I didn’t take. There were a good two to four each game that I passed up. If you look at that, it’s a good five to seven per game I could’ve got up,” Podziemski added.
“Now with Klay being gone, Chris (Paul) being gone, someone is going to have to handle the ball a little bit more. I think I’m more than capable of doing that. Given that, I think it leads me to have more 3s.”
Brandin Podziemski and the Warriors' logjam at multiple positions
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The Warriors may not have gotten top-shelf talent to come to the team this past offseason, but they made up for it by acquiring plenty of players who could make a case for a significant role in the rotation. They signed De'Anthony Melton and Buddy Hield, two nominal shooting guards, while they also added Kyle Anderson, another forward.
Thus, there is a bit of a logjam for the Dubs across multiple positions. But given how high the Warriors regard Brandin Podziemski, he seems to be the favorite to be number one in the shooting guard pecking order — with an opportunity to play spot minutes at the point as well when Stephen Curry needs a breather.
