February 8, 2025

How willing would the Warriors be to bring Brandin Podziemski into trade talks?


LAS VEGAS — As the stalled Lauri Markkanen trade watch inches further into July, some of the spotlight has shifted toward Brandin Podziemski, the increased curiosity about how willing the Golden State Warriors front office would be to put him on the table and how much the Utah Jazz would demand it.

From the Warriors’ side, his internal value, which appears to supersede the external reputation, can be spelled out through some of his rookie numbers.

• The Warriors outscored opponents by 264 points in his 1,968 minutes last season. That was the best plus/minus on the team, 75 points ahead of Stephen Curry, the next closest. Podziemski was in 25 of the team’s 33 best five-man lineup combinations. The Warriors had a 117.5 offensive rating (best on the team) and 111.6 defensive rating (fifth best among rotation players) when he was on the floor. Number models love him.

• At 6-foot-4, Podziemski rebounds like crazy for his position. He averaged 8.8 per game in college and 5.8 in 26.6 minutes as a rookie. Last season, Jonathan Kuminga averaged 4.8. Andrew Wiggins averaged 4.5. Klay Thompson averaged 3.3. Podziemski’s ability at the guard position to close defensive possessions with a rebound became particularly important for a team that leans small with its lineups and doesn’t get bulk rebounding from its bigger wings. Two seasons ago, the Warriors ranked 14th among teams in rebound rate. Last season, Podziemski’s first, they were second.

• Podziemski drew an NBA-high 38 charges. Head coach Steve Kerr has said Podziemski gambles too much but views him as a plus defender with upside, despite his size, because of his instincts and physicality, which allows him to play both guard positions. The Warriors have become comfortable with him in lineups next to Curry. They were a plus-102 in 909 minutes together last season.

James Wiseman played 1,098 minutes in his entire Warriors career. Kuminga logged 1,185 minutes as a rookie. Moses Moody logged 607. Podziemski, the only of those four drafted outside the lottery, nearly reached 2,000 as a rookie. Within this stunted two-timeline project, there’s been intermittent friction between the front office and coaches about the unsteady opportunity and performance of the recent draft picks. That never existed with Podziemski. There has been and remains rare alignment and consensus of front-office belief and coaching staff trust about his present and future.

But those aren’t the most relevant Podziemski numbers to the current Markkanen moment. These are: $3.5 million, $3.7 million, $5.7 million. That is what Podziemski will make the next three seasons to complete his rookie deal, cost-controlled production near the veteran minimum from an ascending player in the new second-apron world. Podziemski won’t be due for a raise until after Draymond Green’s (three years, $77.6 million left) and Wiggins’ (three years, $84.6 million left) current contracts expire in the summer of 2027.

In these Markkanen conversations, the contract clock of every player involved is an important context. Markkanen’s extension eligibility date of Aug. 6 has been much discussed. It’ll force a declaration from both Utah and Markkanen on their future together. The Jazz have saved enough cap space to renegotiate and extend Markkanen, giving him a significant raise next season and a mega extension that is millions more than the Warriors could offer after any theoretical trade. It makes all the financial sense for Markkanen to work out something lucrative with the Jazz if that large of an offer is made. If an extension isn’t quickly settled, Utah’s leverage lessens tremendously because of what it’d signal.

Kuminga and Moody are the two other young players who have been in these trade discussions, according to Shams Charania. Kuminga will make $7.6 million next season. Moody will make $5.8 million. However, both were drafted in 2021, and this is the last season of their rookie deals. They are extension-eligible. Their financial futures need to get solved quickly, unlike Podziemski, and — in Kuminga’s case — the salary is about to skyrocket in the 2025-26 season.

That presents a level of clarity on why Podziemski has emerged as the most coveted young player and potential swing piece in a deal. But how much would the Jazz value his inclusion? Is he the equivalent of a 2028 unprotected Warriors first-round pick? A 2029 unprotected pick swap? Put him on the table, and take one off it?

That’s where the imbalance of value between specific teams is tricky. To the Warriors, Podziemski means far more than a single future first. Any Markkanen move is about maximizing the present. Draft picks late in the decade — while appealing to a rebuilding team — do nothing to help the fading days of the Curry era. But Podziemski? The numbers suggest he contributed more to winning than anyone on the roster besides Curry and Green last season.

“We think he’s a future All-Star,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob told the summer-league broadcast Wednesday night. Last season, Green suggested Podziemski would be the successor to Curry as the Warriors’ point guard of the future.

It’s fair to doubt the ceiling, especially as a scorer. Will Podziemski ever be able to generate enough separation off the dribble, hit a higher volume of 3s and finish consistently enough in traffic? That’s still to be determined, though there were some summer-league glimpses.

“I think I can get (to an All-Star level),” Podziemski has said. “I’m never gonna just settle for being a role player.”

It’s not that the Warriors couldn’t or wouldn’t trade him under any circumstance. Dating to the last deadline, they’ve made it clear everyone besides Curry is at least up for discussion. But Podziemski isn’t just some casual inclusion to nudge the value of a trade package up and get something across the finish line. His name changes the calculus of any theoretical deal.


Required reading

(Photo of Brandin Podziemski: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)



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