How a Rookie Won Over the Golden State Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO — Nearly a 12 months in the past at the dot, Mike Dunleavy, the Golden State Warriors’ long term normal supervisor, and Kent Lacob, an ascending entrance administrative center staff voice, hopped in a automotive and made the short 50 mile go back and forth south to Santa Clara’s campus.

They had been basically there to look Maxwell Lewis, the imaginable lottery select of Pepperdine. Lewis performed nice. He’d sooner or later get decided on fortieth within the 2023 NBA Draft. But he wasn’t the most productive participant at the flooring. Brandin Podziemski, a 6-foot-4 guard who was once handiest starting to creep onto the draft radar, made each and every important play to steer Santa Clara to victory. His 23 issues mattered. But it was once the 18 rebounds that had Dunleavy’s and Lacob’s antennas up.

“Mike and I walked out of the sport like, ‘Um, that guy might be a first-round pick,’” Lacob said.

Podziemski competed in the NBA Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend last Friday. He leads all NBA rookies with 14 games of at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists, making him a clear candidate to finish on the All-Rookie first team.

He turns 21 this week, but has already pushed his way past Klay Thompson into the Warriors’ beginning and shutting lineups, an important glue piece of head trainer Steve Kerr’s favourite five-man workforce, which has outscored fighters through 57 issues in 107 mins.

The courting between Podziemski and the Warriors can also be traced to that February evening. That’s after they first started to take Podziemski significantly as a prospect. In the following 365 days — with a number of necessary inflection issues alongside the way in which — he has received over each and every stage of the group, maximum crucially his veteran teammates.

Podziemski’s long term surfaced lately within the visiting locker room in Salt Lake City. He’s a prototype function participant at the moment, however has goals of changing into an All-Star. There are roadblocks forward and boundaries to triumph over. But somebody who has doubted Podziemski so far has frequently been confirmed unsuitable.

“The ceiling is high,” Draymond Green mentioned. “He’s still learning. Still figuring s— out. But when you start looking at people who are going to succeed him…”

Green issues 3 lockers down. Stephen Curry is getting dressed after torching the Jazz. Curry’s high might lengthen till 40. But he turns 36 subsequent month. When Curry is 40, Podziemski will likely be 25.

“It won’t look the same,” Green mentioned. “Totally different. But you’re very comfortable when he’s out there on the court. That says a lot for a rookie on this team — that you feel the amount of comfort you do when he’s out there running the show.”

The Warriors’ entrance administrative center reconnected with Podziemski on the draft mix in Chicago in May. Most height possibilities don’t do a lot courtroom paintings. He examined out higher than anticipated athletically and was once already emerging on forums, getting first-round buzz. Some in his place can have skipped the scrimmages. Podziemski didn’t.

“I got nothing to hide,” he instructed the Warriors brass, led through scouting director Larry Harris.

Podziemski then went out and beaten the scrimmage portion. His inventory spiked once more. In-person exercises cranked up. Podziemski traveled the rustic, intent on impressing. He went to Houston. Chuck Hayes, these days within the Warriors entrance administrative center, was once operating for the Rockets on the time. He recollects Podziemski killing the exercise whilst letting the health club find out about it.

“BP,” Hayes referred to as out sooner than a contemporary recreation. “You remember talking trash to John Lucas in the Rockets workout?”

“Oh, yeah,” Podziemski responded.

Podziemski and Lucas, the previous NBA level guard and mythical construction trainer, had been arguing about who was once the best lefty guard within the development. It was once an early peek into the mindset that has earned Podziemski such a lot admire.

“He talk s— all day,” Green mentioned. “That’s all he do.”

Podziemski idea he beaten his exercise in Miami. He figured the Heat may draft him 18th. They went with Jaime Jaquez Jr., additionally a Warriors’ favourite. Golden State was once up at No. 19. Podziemski idea he are compatible, however didn’t really feel relatively as positive about how he carried out at his workforce exercise in San Francisco. The Warriors had been positive.

“He was great on the court,” Lacob mentioned. “Like, really good. Clearly the best player in the workout.”

The Warriors then introduced him into the movie room and had him spoil down two video games of tape. They don’t incessantly be informed a lot in those periods. Podziemski was once other. They bogged down a few of his pick-and-roll decision-making in opposition to Gonzaga and defensive possessions.

“He could reference personnel on the other team,” Lacob mentioned. “Names, tendencies, opponent actions. His memory recall was super impressive.”

Podziemski popped within the Warriors’ analytics type, put in combination through their vice chairman of analytics Pabail Sidhu. They price it with greater frequency. Podziemski’s 8.8 rebounds in line with recreation led his convention. That juiced the analytics type. When it was once all wrapped in combination, Podziemski completed top-10 at the entrance administrative center’s consensus ultimate draft board.

“There was a belief that he was clearly a Steve Kerr system fit, but also a consensus belief it was more than that,” Lacob mentioned. “The talent combined with the IQ and the personality was something to bet on.”

Cam Whitmore, regarded as a pre-draft top-five prospect, was once nonetheless to be had at 19. So had been quite a few different valued gamers. But the Warriors didn’t cringe. They took Podziemski. It was once Dunleavy’s first draft variety as normal supervisor. The room agreed on Podziemski.

Green sprained his left ankle simply sooner than coaching camp. He overlooked a few month. In his ramp-up to go back, the Warriors arrange a scrimmage in Sacramento the morning in their 2d recreation. Podziemski was once out of the rotation, so they’d him play on Green’s group. They misplaced the primary scrimmage after Green became it over.

“We can’t have a turnover for game!” Podziemski instructed Green. “You cannot turn the ball over for game.”

Green was once surprised. They’ve had inexperienced persons who slightly say a phrase to him all the season.

“I was like, ‘OK, cool, you got it. No problem,’” Green mentioned. “Here we are playing a pick-up game, a game to get me ready and he’s yelling at me. That to me said a whole lot. I was like, ‘You know what? No problem. But make sure you speak up like that all the time.’”

The Warriors had a longer keep in Los Angeles all the way through the preseason. They had some exercises on UCLA’s campus. After one observe, the guards arrange a King of the Court taste one-on-one. Score and keep. Podziemski was once up in opposition to a gaggle that incorporated Curry and Chris Paul.

“We were at UCLA, right?” Paul requested Moses Moody. “When BP beat us in ones.”

“Yes,” Moody answered, grinning on the reminiscence. The rookie was once giving it to 2 of the best to ever do it on the level guard place and alerting somebody inside of earshot of the wear.

“He did the Tiger (Woods) fist-pump,” Paul mentioned, shaking his head.

“‘Let’s f—g go!’” Curry recollects him taunting. “That was hilarious.”

Podziemski’s first NBA style was once sour. He struggled in summer season league, most commonly together with his jumper and floater. The extra he stewed, the extra it snowballed.

“I had a little bit of doubt after summer league,” Podziemski admitted. “But the rest of that July period and August and September, I just attacked. I focused on what I needed to work on to be a role player on this team.”

Podziemski attended each and every group exercise that Curry, Paul and Green arranged around the summer season. He was once within the group facility on Aug. 1 and a mainstay nearly each day after. He entered camp assured he may make some noise, even though maximum figured he’d spend the vast majority of the season in Santa Cruz with the Warriors G League associate.

Kevon Looney recollects the brand new rookie guard bashing into him and clawing over rebounds. He to begin with instructed Podziemski to give up stealing them away. Then he learned it was once a part of his recreation and perspective.

“I remember in those mini-camps, he’d be grumbling after scrimmages like, ‘Oh, I’m tired of losing,’” Looney mentioned. “I was like, ‘You should just be happy you’re on the court.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, we gotta figure out a way to win. They need to pass me the ball.’ I’m like, ‘Uhh, I don’t know about that.’”

Looney noticed a quote from Podziemski quickly after the draft that mentioned he sought after to be a triple-double man.

“That’s pretty bold,” Looney mentioned and laughed. “But I know most Wisconsin guards have this crazy confidence to them. (Jordan) Poole. Tyler Herro. He’s got a delusion to him that makes him good.”

Podziemski grew up in Milwaukee in what he describes as a “competitive” circle of relatives the place his father, John, and his mom, Barbara West, didn’t permit him to win at the rest. He had to earn it.

“From that competitiveness comes confidence,” Podziemski mentioned. “Knowing how much you put into the game, why would you come in here nervous or timid?”

Podziemski remains extraordinarily overdue after video games. He strolls across the locker room and converses with somebody in his orbit. He attempted to arrange an NBA-related quiz after a recreation early within the season to get some spending cash off Thompson after which in comparison their salaries when Thompson was once hesitant. Thompson instructed him to prevent “pocket-watching.”

“It’s easier to tame a lion than get a sheep to show some oomph,” Curry mentioned. “The most annoying parts about him are the greatest parts about him. He’s still coachable. That’s a big part of it. You can say all that stuff but if you can’t accept coaching, that’s where it turns into being counterproductive.”

Podziemski trails Curry for postgame exercises and research what makes him nice. He could be probably the most lively member of the group’s workforce chat, in keeping with Green, and instructed Green he was once coming for him by way of textual content messages.

“I wouldn’t do this if I were you,” Green warned. “I don’t play fair.”

Podziemski then despatched a number of outdated footage of Green to the group, the funniest he may in finding.

“He was once like: ‘Wham. Wham. Wham,’” Green said of the flood of texts and then remembered he hadn’t retaliated. “I still gotta popcorn his car.”

After a low-energy loss to the Heat in overdue December, a distraught Podziemski went to the rostrum and blamed himself as the largest reason why for the loss. Anyone who watched the sport would’ve positioned his respectable efficiency a long way down the checklist. Curry went 3 of 15 taking pictures. Andrew Wiggins was once in a stoop. Defensive breakdowns had been in all places. But there he was once pinning himself because the evening’s perpetrator.

“Geez,” Thompson mentioned when he heard about it. “Dramatic, rookie.”

Kerr has been maximum inspired with Podziemski defensively. In camp, they monitor deflections all the way through scrimmages. Podziemski led the group. That was once an early signal.

His rebounding numbers translated, which was once in particular necessary for a group that leaned small. The Warriors are the third-best rebounding group within the NBA and Podziemski’s 5.8 rebounds in line with recreation in 26 mins in line with recreation rank at the back of handiest Green and Looney. He will get at the glass extra relentlessly than Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga, their larger wings.

“What this team has lacked, what it lacked last year, he gave us,” Kerr mentioned. “The connection. The connector. The ball-mover. The cutter. There’s a feel and a recognition of what’s happening on the floor that makes him playable in any lineup. He enhances every lineup.”

The Warriors just about blew an enormous result in the Spurs in overdue November. They received, nevertheless it was once a nasty total efficiency and Podziemski’s first actual stinker. He overlooked all 5 of his pictures. Kerr entered the locker room postgame anticipating the group to be down and Podziemski to be in hiding.

“I would have been holed up in my apartment for three days wondering if I’d ever make a shot again,” Kerr mentioned of his more youthful self. “But I went in there and he was the most upbeat guy. I loved it. Because when you play poorly and still can bring team energy and maintain confidence and swagger, that’s a great sign.”

One of the extra consequential performs of the Warriors’ season up to now got here in Portland in mid-December. They entered a wobbly 11-14, desiring desperately to overcome a nasty Trail Blazers group. But Curry struggled and so they had been having a tricky time striking the win away.

Curry overlooked a loose throw with 4 seconds left. The Blazers, down two, didn’t name timeout. Shaedon Sharpe driven the ball upcourt in a scramble drill. He had what seemed to be a trail to the rim to tie it. But Podziemski stepped in entrance and took a game-winning payment. Here’s the ownership:

Podz saves the day with a heads-up play ‼️ pic.twitter.com/hsBjStzdye

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 18, 2023

That was once Podziemski’s eleventh payment drawn. It has transform his signature defensive transfer. He has drawn 27 this season, which leads the NBA. He tracks the leaderboard, knew who led the NBA in that class closing season (Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams) or even mentions one of the biggest charge-takers in fresh historical past when discussing it.

When discussing Podziemski’s defensive upside, Kerr in comparison him to Austin Reaves of the Lakers.

“Like when I coached Austin this past summer, what stood out to me most is just that there’s zero fear defensively. And he’s strong as s—. That’s what they have in common. They’re very similar (in) size. Six-four and really physically strong. That’s what you need, I think, in today’s game. The guys who struggle defensively are the guys who aren’t physically strong. If you’re going to be on the small side, you’ve got to be strong,” Kerr mentioned.

Podziemski has, ultimately, in comparison himself to Gary Payton II and Draymond Green this season, overly formidable on its face however Payton and Green appear to know the overall level. He sees the ground and the patterns and has an urge for food for disruption like either one of them. But that incorporates a drawback. He roams.

“He gambles way too much,” Kerr mentioned. “That’s great except we really only need one guy (Draymond) doing that. If you have two guys doing that, the defense will be screwed up. But I’ll take that any day over the guy who isn’t aware. The guy who isn’t aware is standing on the weak side while the guy is laying it in. He’s the opposite. He sees every cutter. He’s trying to help on everything. We just have to help him streamline and help him understand his job isn’t to do everyone else’s job.”

Adds Green: “He gets lost sometimes. But the reality is I used to get lost all the time. People may not remember, but they couldn’t play me on shooters for a long time. It’d be like we’re playing the Pelicans, I’d guard Anthony Davis. Then they’d switch Ryan Anderson or Nikola Mirotić and they’d be like: ‘We got to get Draymond out of the game.’”

Podziemski strayed too a long way off Jordan Clarkson all the way through a contemporary recreation in opposition to the Jazz and realized the lesson at the bench from Payton, some other high-risk gambler.

“He sees what Draymond does and tries to mimic it,” Payton mentioned. “But I told him when you’re guarding a problem like Clarkson, you can’t roam as much as you’d like. Because it’s a swing, swing, high percentage catch-and-shoot. It’s all a feel.”

On the opposite finish of the ground, Podziemski is a low-risk playmaker. In February, he has 52 assists and 9 turnovers. In January, he had 41 assists and 12 turnovers. He had a 27-assist, 0-turnover four-game stretch lately that broke rookie information.

But his final upside will likely be decided as a scorer. Podziemski’s shot vitamin is proscribed to 3s, floaters, sweeping hooks and sneaky layups. He remains out of the midrange and doesn’t reside above the rim. He struggled together with his 3 for one of the season however has made 12 of his closing 19 to up his season proportion to 38.5 %. He has scored in double-figures in 28 video games this season, sixth-most amongst inexperienced persons, and hit 20 4 instances. If that may transform an ordinary benchmark as he nears his high, the ceiling will proceed to upward thrust.

“I want to be an All-Star,” Podziemski mentioned. “You know, Jonathan has taken that subsequent step of actually being in that dialog. To see his expansion simply this 12 months has been beautiful particular. So going into the summer season after this 12 months raising my recreation to some other stage, doing the issues that I’m poor in now and making them as environment friendly as imaginable, I feel I will get there. I’m by no means gonna simply accept being a task participant, particularly after my first 12 months. I were given an extended occupation forward of me.“

(Photo representation: Rachel Orr / The Athletic; picture: Brian Babineau / NBAE by way of Getty Images)