Warriors Guard Brandin Podziemski Seeking Contract Extension In Offseason

Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski seeking contract extension in offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Among the long list of Warriors’ to-dos in perhaps the most important offseason of the franchise’s history is securing the future of Brandin Podziemski. 

Now that Podziemski’s third season in the NBA has been completed, he’s eligible for a rookie contract extension. He made it clear on Monday after his exit interviews his hope is to put pen to paper as soon as possible and remain with the Warriors for many years to come. 

“Of course,” Podziemski said. “I want to be here for the long term. It’s always special having been the team that drafted you. Hopefully we can get something done.” 

Podziemski, 23, is under contract for a $5.7 million team option next season. In his first three seasons with the Warriors, Podziemski has seen every side to the business world of basketball. That’s especially true for young players as well. 

The Warriors signed Moses Moody, the No. 14 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, to a three-year, $39 million rookie contract extension on Oct. 21, 2024. However, they couldn’t come to terms with Jonathan Kuminga, the No. 7 pick from the 2021 draft, on an extension in the same offseason. 

That caused more of a rift between Kuminga and the Warriors. His restricted free agency last offseason drew drama-filled headlines and dragged on for months. The situation held the Warriors back from signing multiple players until the very start of training camp, putting them behind from the jump. 

“I think seeing him and Moses do two different things for me helped just seeing the good and bad to both sides,” Podziemski said. “I don’t think one’s better than the other, but seeing that as a teammate and seeing how they handled both situations I think is going to help me.” 

Podziemski says his contract and future wasn’t a distraction this season and he didn’t let it become something that lingered and affected his play. 

“It’s pretty easy to just put it by the wayside,” Podziemski said. “When you think about it coming into the year, if you do at all, you realize the next summer is so far away and there’s so much in between that has to go on, that if you live and die by that each and every game, it goes like this (Podziemski motions his hands up and down like a roller coaster). 

“For me, I just let my agent [Bill Duffy], my group [WME Basketball], handle that and I just try to go out there and try to put my best foot forward every night and just continuously try and get better.” 

As the season went on, Podziemski only got better. The former No. 19 pick in the 2023 draft averaged 17.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists without Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler in March while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from 3-point range. He then averaged 19.1 points on 51.8-percent shooting and 40 percent beyond the arc in seven regular-season games in April before 17 points and seven rebounds in the Warriors’ first play-in tournament game, and 23 points and 10 rebounds in their second. 

Overall, Podziemski averaged a career-high 13.8 points per game this season and was the only Warrior to play all 82 regular-season games. He says the part of his exit interview that involved general manager Mike Dunleavy was more about the season and less about his upcoming contract situation. 

“We didn’t talk about it,” Podziemski said. “We just kind of talked about the season. We talked about the goods, the bads, what he was impressed with, especially towards the back half. But I know when that time comes, I know him and my agent will take care of it.” 

Extending Podziemski isn’t first on the Warriors’ priority list when the future of their Hall-of-Fame-bound coach is up in the air. When the time does come, it would be hard not to see Podziemski and the Warriors come to an agreement.

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