The Golden State Warriors just got much younger, and Brandin Podziemski may be a centerpiece of their new era sooner rather than later. With Chris Paul and Klay Thompson departing the Bay Area, the team's young core will have to step up and support Steph Curry.
Podziemski sounded off on Paul's move to the San Antonio Spurs, via NBC Sports.
“I texted him yesterday, it was pretty sad,” the 21-year-old admitted. “But like I told you earlier, whoever shows up October 1st is what we have to rock with. Whether we're a young team, whether we're old again. whether we're not. Whether we have stars around Steph or we don't, we're gonna have to work with it, and we're gonna have to figure it out. For me, that's what I've been working towards these last eight to 10 weeks is just getting better, as close as I can to being a star.”
Podziemski, who made the NBA All-Rookie First Team last season, is focused on improving his game amid the free agency fireworks.
“It's definitely crazy. I've never been a part of it, so seeing people sign different places every different day is definitely different. But I think my perspective and how I would handle things is whoever's with us September 30th on media day and that's all you can really go by. So when we're in media day in October and we're in training camp, that's what we have to work with, so that's what I'm focused on.”
While the Warriors landed former Philadelphia 76ers guard De'Anthony Melton to help ease the loss of the two NBA legends, the team will undoubtedly need Podziemski to take a second-year leap to help compensate. Will the Santa Clara alum step up?
Podziemski is a rising player, but may not get to Thompson level yet for the Warriors
While Podziemski will easily surpass the declining Paul's production, matching Thompson will be trickier. The 2023 first-round pick averaged 9.2 points on 45.4% shooting with 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 across 26.6 minutes per game this past season.
Those numbers were nearly identical to Paul's, but Thompson put up 17.9 points on 43.2% shooting and 38.9% from beyond the arc across 29.7 minutes per game. While Podziemski should see an uptick in minutes in his second season, it will take more development to approach the four-time champions' level of shooting prowess.
Although Podziemski's 38.5% three-point shooting mark was only slightly below Thompson's, the veteran sniper took many more attempts. Thompson hoisted 692 long balls, whereas the Wisconsin native took just 234.
Regardless, Podziemski and fellow second-year talent Trayce Jackson-Davis will each get bigger slices of the playing time pie next year, and it'll be a prime opportunity for each of them to put the league on notice.
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