The Warriors’ young core of Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and Gui Santos has caught Draymond Green’s attention as it continues to flourish toward the end of the 2024-25 NBA season.
On Wednesday, the four-time NBA champion took to his “Draymond Green Show” podcast with co-host and retired Golden State guard Baron Davis to show his young teammates love.
“They’ve both been extremely aggressive, and like you said, Moses as well,” Green told Davis about Kuminga, Podziemski and Moody. “Moses [has] been stepping up and taking that challenge of guarding the other team’s best guard. … Podz has been shooting the s–t out of the ball, which is great for us. JK [has] been all over the floor defensively, rebounding and getting up the court and downhill. It’s good to see him taking that challenge … because that’s how you earn your minutes. Gui Santos also [is] another young fella [who has] been playing extremely well.”
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Golden State has won 20 of its last 25 games and is in the thick of the dramatically congested Western Conference. While the Warriors’ trade-deadline acquisition of Jimmy Butler III has stolen much of the national shine, Golden State’s young core has been electric and timely, as Green highlighted.
Moody has stepped up defensively and has collected two steals in three consecutive games and 23 steals over his last 16 games. After missing 31 games with an ankle injury, Kuminga has averaged 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists while impacting the game on both ends, beyond the stat sheet. Podziemski has been a big-time scorer over his last six games, averaging 21.7 points on 56-percent shooting on two-point shots and a dominant 58.7 percent on 3s.
Even Santos has been providing key spot minutes for coach Steve Kerr and has averaged 4.4 points, 3.5 rebounds – 2.2 offensive boards – and 0.8 steals in 15.8 minutes over his last eight games.
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“We need them to play well in order to make the run we want to make; so it’s good to see them play the way they’re playing, as confident as they are,” Green told Davis. “We’re about to make this run and need everybody. … The young fellas [are] playing well, man. It’s great to see because we need it.”
Green and the Warriors are trying to win their fifth NBA championship in 11 seasons. Golden State still has a long way to go, but its young core couldn’t have stepped up at a better time.