With Brandin Podziemski being drafted No. 19 in the 2023 NBA Draft, there’s no question Warriors fans were looking for more from the Santa Clara product in 2023 Summer League.
An 0-5 record while shooting 26 percent from the field and 21 percent from beyond the arc, with outside shooting essentially his calling card as a prospect, certainly wasn’t pretty.
But for Podziemski, Summer League struggles are all apart of the process, especially for someone making the jump from the West Coast Conference to NBA-adjacent competition.
Despite those gaudy-for-the-wrong-reasons numbers, Podziemski still had plenty of positives to take away, too.
Here’s the good news: Podziemski, who hit on 44 percent of his near-six attempts in college, didn’t forget how to shoot the basketball. The shot will come around, and with it overall percentages will improve. Much more real worries stem from his ability to finish at the rim, his athleticism falling further behind his peers and off-ball defense, all of which were apparent in Summer League competition and were concerns for many throughout the draft process.
Even with the shots not going in, he was still impactful in a big way numbers-wise: 6.8 rebounds and six assists per game. And in the modern and ever-versatile NBA, having more than one skill to rely on is certainly a positive.
Podziemski also played with great pace and poise, two things he’ll certainly need to success in any iteration of the Warriors’ lineup.
With shooting, passing and positional size alone, Podziemski is sure to have a solid NBA career. And a few rough Summer League games are sure to just be a chapter in that book.
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