Brandin Podziemski has largely been a positive for the Golden State Warriors in the absence of Stephen Curry, but Wednesday's loss to the Boston Celtics once again revealed the inconsistent nature of his offense -- something the front office can't ignore as they prepare for rookie extension talks in the summer.
Steve Kerr closed the first-half of Wednesday's game with Pat Spencer over Podziemski, with the young guard finishing the night with just 10 points on 1-of-8 shooting from the floor and 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
Warriors need more consistency from Brandin Podziemski
Spencer was certainly the better point guard option on the night, having finished with an equal team-high 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while also adding a pair of assists in his 20 minutes off the bench as the Warriors suffered a blowout 120-99 defeat.
It illustrates a major issue for Podziemski and Golden State. At the end of his third season and after logging nearly 6000 minutes, the 23-year-old should be at the point where he's never benched for Spencer who, with no disrespect, is a limited NBA player and one of the last players on this Warrior roster.
But that's the reality given Podziemski can be an up-and-down offensive player, largely because his shooting, which can be a real swing factor for so many players in the league, can come and go on a nightly basis.
Podziemski's 36.4% 3-point shooting on the season is reasonably solid, but it's the feast or famine nature that can be frustrating. In the 19 games since Curry went out of the lineup with his knee injury, Podziemski has showcased his potential with four games of at least 22 points, and three games with at least four made 3-pointers.
Yet in the same stretch, he also has seven games of 11 points or less, including in each of the last two games against the Celtics and Washington Wizards. That's the inconsistency of a role player who's been asked to step into a larger role, rather than a budding star who's taking full advantage of the opportunity.
Warriors have intriguing extension talks to come with Brandin Podziemski
After dealing with Jonathan Kuminga's restricted free agency just last summer, it will be intriguing to see whether Golden State will approach Podziemski's extension talks with extra motivation to get a deal done, or whether they'll be content to leave it to restricted free agency if need be.
Podziemski can point to his four recent 20-point games as an example of someone who might be worth nearly $20 million per season, while a performance like we saw on Wednesday will have the Warriors wondering whether he's worth any more than Moses Moody's current three-year, $39 million deal.