NBA Summer League isn’t about staring at box scores and making concrete judgments on players after a few games with teammates they aren’t familiar with and in a brand-new system. There’s a mishmash of talent on the court between top draft picks, second-round picks and undrafted players trying to prove themselves, all while veteran journeymen still are vying to show they belong in the league.
Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski looked overmatched at times a year ago in Las Vegas, as well as during the California Classic. Golden State's top draft pick wasn’t hitting shots, and didn’t appear to be close to an All-Rookie First Team selection. Another example of not putting too much stock into summer league was made obvious for all the intangibles the Santa Clara product brings to the court.
Podziemski's second summer on the exhibition circuit didn’t last long, and it didn’t have to. The top request from Steve Kerr and his coaching staff for him, as well as voices from the top of the front office, was put to the test by the 21-year-old.
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Podziemski has to be a 3-point threat, whether he’s starting alongside Steph Curry or coming off the bench. Between two games in Las Vegas and one at Chase Center for the California Classic, he didn’t show any hesitation beyond the arc.
And each game Podziemski improved as a 3-point shooter this summer.
After being part of the USA Select Team and playing three summer league games, Podziemski will not play any more games for the Warriors in Las Vegas. He stuffed the box score in his final game, a 92-83 win against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night, that improved Golden State’s summer league record to a perfect 5-0.
Podziemski led the Warriors in points (21 on 8-of-14 shooting), rebounds (12) and assists (seven). He also was 4 of 8 from three.
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Podziemski in his summer league finale cashed in three points a multitude of ways. Catch-and-shoot, off the dribble and stepping back into his shot – everything was there.
“In terms of volume and accuracy, we need guys shooting the three more,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said to reporters Friday in Las Vegas. “That can be internal. Certainly with Moses [Moody], with [Andrew Wiggins], with BP and [Jonathan Kuminga]. All those guys I think can make shots. We’ll have to improve our 3-point shooting as a team.
“I would have said with Klay [Thompson] back anyway we would have had to. With Klay and Steph there’s just a high volume of threes those guys produce and then everybody else is a little bit lower. I’d like to get that up with everybody else being a little bit more even and just being more threats from outside. I think we can do that, but at the same time we’ll always look to improve and add more.”
The Warriors already know Podziemski is going to give them the energy of a fully-charged battery on both sides of the ball. His decision-making shouldn’t scare them as someone who will be a primary ball handler in Year 2. He also might be the best candidate to take a leap in 3-pointers.
The previous game in Las Vegas, Podziemski was 3 of 6 from three. Though his shot wasn’t falling in his one California Classic game this year, he still let six threes fly following two scrimmages against Team USA where he was the USA Select Team’s main point guard.
As a rookie, Podziemski averaged the fifth-most 3-point attempts on the Warriors, and made the fourth-most overall. On a 2024-25 squad without Thompson, the lefty should sit behind only Curry and possibly Buddy Hield – the Warriors’ newly acquired veteran sharpshooter – in terms of shooting.
This year’s summer league version of Podziemski clearly was a stronger player who was able to get to the basket with relative ease and continued to showcase the budding connection with Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Most notably, the 3-point line is more of a comfort spot for Podziemski, more closely resembling the force that shot nearly 44 percent from there his one season at Santa Clara, which had him shoot up draft boards and into the Warriors’ hands at the No. 19 overall pick.