Former Warriors First Round Pick is Finding his Footing

The Golden State Warriors are presently playing as one of the hottest teams in the NBA, winners of six of their last seven games, several of which came against postseason-bound teams.

One could point to the addition of star forward Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, who has certainly galvanized the roster with scoring, play-making and more. But it hasn’t just been the former Heat star.

Brandin Podziemski, the organization’s No. 19 pick just two drafts ago, has begun to find his footing again in the NBA. And it’s paying dividends for the Dubs. He was a talented guard prospect out of Santa Clara, possessing the ability to score, pass, rebound and defend.

The sophomore got off to an exceptionally slow start, relative to his All-Rookie first season. In his first 25 games, he scored 8.2 points on just 39% shooting overall, hitting on just a quarter of his 3-point attempts. His do-it-all game continued with 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists, but his scoring was a detriment overall.

A mid-season abdominal strain then caused the guard to miss 12 games, another bump in the road. 

Since his missed stretch, though, Podziemski has found a foothold. Across 15 games since returning from injury — six of which have been starts — the former Santa Clara product has averaged 14.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals, shooting a blistering 48% overall.

He only seems to be getting better, too, scoring outputs of 18, 21 and 17 points in his last four games, averaging a +19 plus-minus in that stretch, where the Warriors are undefeated.

Podziemski’s resurgance in the Warriors’ core has reignited their postseason hopes. And that should continue in the team’s bout with the Orlando Magic at 6 p..m CT tonight.