The Golden State Warriors fell to the Dallas Mavericks 98-96 in overtime on Wednesday, pushing their record at Las Vegas Summer League to 0-3. It's not another loss in Sin City, no matter how nail-biting, that has Dub Nation feeling extra anxious heading into Thursday's event finale, though. The struggles of Brandin Podziemski are the source of that unease, and rightfully so.

The Warriors' first-round pick finished with five points, seven rebounds, five assists and four turnovers against Dallas, shooting an ugly 1-of-10 from the field while at times being exploited defensively. As Golden State's time at Summer League winds down, let's dive into Brandin Podziemski's good, bad and ugly—not in that order—from another revealing performance in Las Vegas.

Brandin Podziemski Summer League reactions vs. Mavs

The Ugly

There's no sugarcoating Podziemski's almost complete inability to score or create clean looks for himself on Wednesday.

His first basket against the Mavs came on a sideline out-of-bounds-play late in the fourth quarter, when Podziemski caught just above the elbow, faked a dribble hand-off and got the ball on the backboard just before Dereck Lively rotated from the weak side for a block.

That's exactly the type of built-in advantage Podziemski has needed to get all the way to the rim or even just a full shoulder past his defender throughout Summer League. But full-scale defensive breakdowns like the above are atypical even in July.

Despite the Warriors' best efforts to give him a head of steam or space to launch with dribble hand-offs, varied ball screens and one-pass-away positioning, Podziemski failed to produce his own offense pretty much over and over.

These are all tough shots. Missing them isn't the problem for Podziemski; it's that they're the most viable attempts he could muster.

Podziemski didn't fare any better seeking tries from beyond the arc.

A 43.8% three-point shooter at Santa Clara last season, he's hardly played like that type of marksman with the summer Dubs, and not just because his shots haven't fallen. Podziemski is now 3-of-14 on triples in Las Vegas after missing all three of his long-range tries versus Dallas.

The bigger issue is his palpable reluctance to let fly at all, never more evident than when Golden State could've beaten the Mavs with a three in overtime. Instead of catching on the move, taking one more dribble and stepping into a potential game-winner, Podziemski barely looked at the rim before deciding to give up the ball.

The final sequence of Wednesday's game was just as damning.

Podziemski's short standing reach and barely-there explosiveness in a crowd dogged him throughout the pre-draft process, and has reared its ugly head facing Summer League competition, too. He just had no realistic chance to get this would-be game-winning layup to the rim.

 

The Good

Podziemski had one game-winning shot easily blocked and didn't even conceive of another. But before his labors finishing around the basket and discomfort quick-pulling from three were cemented even further as the game hung in the balance, he helped complete Golden State's 13-point fourth quarter comeback with a drive-and-kick dime that tied the score at 90 with just eight seconds left.

This possession is Podziemski's greatest strength in a nutshell.

He wastes no time up-faking on the catch, drawing a switch from Lively. Anticipating the rookie big man's penchant for leaving his feet, Podziemski stops in his tracks and subtly feigns another shot attempt, drawing the weak-side defender one step farther from Kendric Davis before making the pass.

Buckets.

Podziemski's elite-level processing speed and understanding of timing and angles as a playmaker were once again on full display Wednesday afternoon. He's arguably the best pure passer in Las Vegas, a distinction for which he'd no doubt warrant consideration even if Scoot Henderson and Amen Thompson weren't sidelined by minor injury in their Summer League opener.

Podziemski deserved to finish with at least double his five assists, frequently putting his teammates in advantage situations and making the defense scramble with nuanced, high-level passing reads all over the floor.

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It's looking more and more like Podziemski will see a fair share of time with the G League Warriors as a rookie. Whether cutting his teeth in Santa Cruz or moonlighting as a rotation player when Golden State is short-handed, his passing chops are bound to pop.

The Bad

Podziemski wasn't an abject negative defensively against Dallas. He was reliable as a help defender, fought on the defensive glass and even managed a couple stops when the Mavs targeted him one-on-one.

But the jump in execution, skill and overall talent offensively from Summer League to the NBA is massive, and Podziemski's limitations as an on-ball defender in isolation and pick-and-roll were again laid bare on Wednesday.

What's worse than being absolutely roasted off the bounce one-on-one? Getting caught on a pick the following possession, then compounding the problem by fouling the roller for a towering and-1 once back in the play.

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Podziemski actually slides his feet on this crunch-time possession better than the end result suggests. But with length like a small point guard and absent the typical quick-twitch athleticism to match, Podziemski almost functions as a traffic cone for Mavs two-way player Mike Miles Jr.

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Still, defense was the least of Podziemski's worries against Dallas. He'll never be a plus defender for Golden State, and did nothing more to exacerbate existing concerns on that side of the ball that date back to the pre-draft process.

Here's hoping Brandin Podziemski is good enough as a scorer and shot-maker in the Dubs' Summer League finale on Thursday to shift the negative focus squarely back to defense.