While many Golden State Warriors fans are thinking about what Stephen Curry’s contract extension will look like, the more interesting contract saga to keep an eye on is what the front office is going to do with young guard Brandin Podziemski.
Podziemski is eligible for a rookie extension but Warriors insider Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area thinks that Golden State would be smart to not give the 23-year-old a contract extension right now and see how he fares in his fourth NBA season.
“You wanna see what (Podziemski) can do under pressure…Let’s see how he does with a team that we expect to have some difficulty early,” said Poole of Podziemski.
Warriors still need more info on Brandin Podziemski
Poole thinks that the Warriors shouldn’t be afraid of restricted free agency with Podziemski, even though the front office would then be at the peril of having to match an offer made by another team if they wanted to keep him. That is the absolute right approach to take with the former 19th overall pick.
Podziemski proved a lot last season. He played in all 82 games for the team and at times proved that he can be a potent offensive scorer and facilitator Yet there remain question marks about him.
Is he currently at his ceiling right now as a solid role player who is probably the fourth or fifth best option on the team, or does he have the ability to grow and develop into an even better and more reliable player?
The Warriors don’t know that yet which is why Poole is totally right that they need to wait before they offer him an extension that may end up looking bad a few years from now.
If Podziemski plays really well in the first half of the season when the Warriors are without key players like Jimmy Butler, then he will have positioned himself for a big pay day. However, if he struggles and shows the more inconsistent side of him that we’ve seen at times during his first few seasons, perhaps the Warriors will be able to get him at something of a discount.
There’s just a lot that’s still unknown about Podziemski and the fact remains that he is a polarizing player amongst the fanbase. That’s not entirely fair and a lot of it stems from times he’s stuck his foot in his mouth, but it’s still part of the reality.
Head coach Steve Kerr likes Podziemski and thinks he can be a really solid player. Perhaps he will have some say in the matter, but the Warriors need to be patient with him and lean on the side of caution just as Poole outlined.
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