2023 NBA Draft Team Recap: Golden State Warriors
Jordan Poole out. Chris Paul in.
Add in the four year and $100 million dollar contract for Draymond Green and a few low money veteran additions and you have the Golden State Warriors non-NBA Draft offseason.
As you dive into their 2023 NBA Draft, it is interesting to consider the recent draft picks that they have moved on from now that include the aforementioned Poole along with Ryan Rollins, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and James Wiseman.
Hopefully, No. 19 overall pick Brandin Podziemski will find more success carving out a consistent role with an organization vying for an NBA championship year in and year out. You will not find another prospect in the 2023 rookie class with a more surprising rise into the first round than the wing out of Santa Clara.
After playing a total of 66 minutes in his freshman season at Illinois, Podziemski had a breakout sophomore campaign for Santa Clara. The 6-foot-5 guard filled out the box score in every way imaginable while doing so on high efficiency. He averaged 19.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game on shooting splits of 48-44-77.
Podziemski played a total of seven games this summer and while the box score stat stuffing continued en route to averaging 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals, although the efficiency was not able to keep up. He shot just 33% from the field and 25% from the 3-point line in those seven games.
While his overall versatility will allow him to provide value when he isn’t being a knockdown shooter and floor spacer it is still something that will be important for him to carve out that role with this team.
The Wisconsin native will give great effort defensively and has good activity, but won’t necessarily be a positive point of attack defender which increases the need for the overall offensive impact.
With Steph Curry and Klay Thompson still holding down the backcourt, the additions of Paul and veteran Cory Joseph, and former first-round pick Moses Moody still on the roster, it is hard to see where Podziemski’s playing time will come in year one. This is especially true given Steve Kerr and the Warriors' reluctance to mix in youngsters with their veteran core.
The Warriors' second pick in the 2023 NBA Draft was yet another highly productive college player. The 23-year-old Trayce Jackson-Davis may be a bit older, and smaller for his positional size, than some may want but there is no denying the numbers he put up this last season for Indiana University. He averaged 21.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.9 blocks per game on 58% from the field and 70% from the free throw line last season.
Perhaps the most relevant of all those numbers for the Jackson-Davis and the Warriors, specifically, is the four assists and almost three blocks. This is not a team that often asks their big men to score a bunch of buckets but if they can continue to move the ball and keep the flow of the offense they can stay on the court.
If the 6-foot-9 big man is able to do that while also providing even 70% of the rim protection he did in college the Warriors may have found themselves a rotation player in the second round to help spell Kevon Looney.
Much of that will come down to how much Dario Saric can provide and how much the Warriors are willing to also put on the plate of Jonathan Kuminga.
Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.