Brian Windhorst: Warriors believe Brandin Podziemski is going to take off

The Golden State Warriors are high on young guard Brandin Podziemski ahead of the 2024-25 season, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

“The Warriors also believe that Brandin Podziemski is going to take off,” Windhorst said. “They have put a lot of faith in that fact. Not just in what they’ve done with their roster, but the opportunity that they’ve passed. There was a huge interest in Podziemski in the trade market. We know that they sniffed on Paul George and sniffed on Lauri Markkanen. And it’s not the only reason that they didn’t get those deals done, but part of the reason was because they said Podziemski is off limits.”

A first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Podziemski appeared in 74 games and made 28 starts for Golden State last season. He averaged 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 45.4 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range.

The young guard certainly showed some promise as a piece alongside superstar Stephen Curry and forward Jonathan Kuminga, and it appears Golden State has high expectations for him going forward.

This offseason, the Warriors shook up their roster, letting Klay Thompson leave for the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade deal. Golden State brought in a few players to help replace the loss of Thompson in free agency, including veteran guard De’Anthony Melton, sharpshooter Buddy Hield and forward Kyle Anderson.

Replacing Thompson won’t be easy, but Podziemski may get the first crack at doing so in the starting lineup since the Warriors kept him out of trade talks this offseason.

Golden State missed the playoffs in the 2023-24 campaign, as it was unable to get through the play-in tournament in the Western Conference. The previous season (the 2022-23 campaign), the Warriors earned the No. 6 seed in the West and ended up making the second round of the playoffs before they were knocked out by the Los Angeles Lakers.

After finishing fifth in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting last season, Podziemski could be a breakout candidate in a bigger role in the Golden State offense. He only attempted 8.1 shots per game as a rookie, but now that Thompson (14.7 shots per game last season) is out of the picture, there should be more opportunities up for grabs in the 2024-25 campaign.

The Warriors would love for Podziemski to elevate his game and become a suitable running mate to Curry for the end of the two-time MVP’s NBA career.