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Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski experienced conflicting emotions when he was the subject of trade speculation in the offseason.
“It was hard for me to process it mentally,” Podziemski said in a forthcoming interview on Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast. “Everybody is hyping you up but at the same time tearing you down, like ‘Why didn’t we trade him? We should’ve traded him for X, Y, Z.'”
The Warriors made a run at both Paul George and Lauri Markkanen over the summer but ultimately balked at the cost it would’ve required to land either star. On Markkanen specifically, ESPN’s Kendra Andrews reported in August the Utah Jazz demanded Podziemski along with draft compensation from Golden State, which was deemed a “bad deal.”
As tough as the trade rumors were, Podziemski said in his interview he was heartened to see what the Warriors and outside suitors thought of him.
“You feel the respect and love from [general manager] Mike Dunleavy and [owner] Joe Lacob and our front office and how much they value me after seeing just one year of what I could do,” he said. “And it’s not like I was being mentioned for another role player, these were All-Stars being talked about. … To see the Clippers and the Jazz to want me in return, it showed Golden State’s value for me to teams around the league.”
Golden State is still waiting for the 21-year-old to turn a corner this season after he was an All-Rookie honoree in 2023-24. Through 11 appearances, he’s averaging 8.2 points on 38.9 percent shooting along with 3.4 assists.
Despite that, there’s no doubting where the Warriors have Podziemski in their larger long-term plans.
