Monte Poole and Dalton Johnson debate Brandin Podziemski's contract future with the Warriors. He came to basketball late from baseball, shows flashes of high-level play but inconsistent output, and likely projects as a top-8 rotation player rather than a starting guard. The Warriors need to decide whether to lock him in now or wait.
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I think they need to take a close look at Brandin Podziemski and ask themselves, is he a keeper?
Yeah.
You know, Steve Kerr likes him, maybe loves him. Um, but when you watch BP play, you see there are times when he's really good and there's time when he's abysmal. And it's like, okay, you want that consistency. We realize he's still learning He's still evolving as an NBA player. You know, he came into the league not super young, but sort of pretty young, you know, and he hadn't played a bunch of basketball behind him. He didn't have 8, 9 years of basketball behind him.
True.
Some of you guys did, you know, and so he came to basketball relatively late because he was a baseball guy for a while and, and he decided on basketball and he's trying to make it work. But, you know, yeah, can the Warriors— he has another year, but He's eligible. He'll be eligible. And what do you do with that? You know, do you, do you make a commitment to him now or do you wait? Do you wait like you did with Kaminga? Now, from what I understand, there's no— like with Kaminga, there always was this sort of underlying friction.
Yes.
And, and this— well, you know, is he or isn't he not? It's pretty clear that at least this coaching staff likes Brandin. Yeah, what if Steve leaves?
Yeah.
Yeah, and that could change the dynamic there. So I think there should be a spotlight on Brandon too, just to see, okay, where does he fit in this NBA? Is he a starter? Is he a, uh, a, a top 8 rotation player? Or is he on a good team? Or is he more of a 10, 11 rotation player on a really good team? The Warriors right now have not been a really good team. There's They've been hovering just above mediocrity most of the season. And he's not starting. He's sometimes not finishing. So they need to figure out where he fits in their future. And the sooner they can do that, I think the better off they are.
There's definitely a spotlight on Brandin Podziemski for a handful of reasons. I think that number 19 overall pick, when he first came in and we saw someone who it felt like fit the culture as far as he was so competitive as a rookie. Willing to do anything to win was that perfect buzzword connector. As Steve Kerr kept saying, you know, he could just do a lot of the little things, right? And then you started to see, okay, what's the difference between Brandin Podziemski's floor and Brandin Podziemski's ceiling? And is it just getting closer and closer and closer together? Because his numbers right now, Monte, are basically the same exact numbers as last season. Like there hasn't really been that year 2 to year 3 leap. There's been, you know, little increases of continues to develop from rookie to second season to third season. But now you're going, okay, with how much he stood out as a rookie, is he just a little bit better than that? And he, and this is who he is. He's a 11 to 12 points per game, maybe the quietest, 39, 40% from 3-point range. Cause it doesn't have, it's not a high volume, high impact, 40% from, you know, 3-point range, good rebounder. Yeah. Feisty defensive player, takes the charges. But I just don't know what his ceiling is right now anymore. And I think that it's more— I think it's more top 8 on a good team, as we talked about. Maybe not a great team, but definitely a good team. And probably not a true starting shooting guard for a team.
No.
He's a combo guard. And you're talking about, as you brought up, he is rookie contract extension eligible this summer.
