Warriors' Interest in Brayden Burries Could Lead to Trading Trusted Guard

This trade scenario could be coup for Golden State

Brayden Burries | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

The Golden State Warriors have a handful of prospects they are zeroing in on with the 11th pick of the 2026 draft, and one of them could impact Brandin Podziemski's immediate future.

ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported last week that the Warriors have been "scouting and gathering more information" for Brayden Burries, Cameron Carr, Karim Lopez, Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Hannes Steinbach, Nate Ament and Darius Acuff Jr since the the start of 2026.

Of that group, Burries is the most similar to Podz.

If the Warriors take Burries with the 11th pick, they could be more motivated to trade Podz to address their need for a bigger wing.

Burries and Podz Similarities

Burries and Podz are similar in height, length and athleticism:

	Height	Wingspan	Vertical
Podz	6'3.75"	6'5.5"	39.0"
Burries	6'3.75"	6'6"	38.5"

Burries is a slightly better prospect, though.

The two main differences are a) Burries' three-point shot is more natural-looking and b) Burries showed more agility in combine drills.

One area Podz has an edge is rebounding, as Podz averaged an amazing 8.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore for Santa Clara.

The Warriors typically had Podz on bigger offensive players with less ball-handling skills. It seems they are worried about Podz's ability to defend the ball, but they are comfortable with him rebounding against bigger players.

With his superior agility, Burries projects to be able to defend players with more ball-handling ability. He's also a decent rebounder, but he likely won't be as comfortable rebounding against bigger wings.

So despite having essentially the same athletic build, Podz and Burries might actually complement each other defensively.

Offensively, the hope would be that Burries develops more offensive creation skills than Podz has, but right now they feel very similar. They both don't have the ability to be primary offensive creators.

The Warriors need more ball-handling prowess to take pressure off Stephen Curry and (when he returns) Jimmy Butler.

With that said, Burries is a better all-around prospect than the guards with more ball-handling skills like Labaron Philon Jr. and Ebuka Okorie.

So the Warriors could take Burries at No. 11 because he would arguably be the best player available. And then they'd have to decide what to do with Podz.

Warriors Could Trade Podz If They Take Burries

My guess is the Warriors don't want to trade Podz. After all, they need healthy players next season, and Podz was the only Warrior who played in every game in 2025-26.

But if the Warriors take Burries, they could consider offering Podz for a second 2026 first-round pick in the 12-18 range. No one else on the Warriors has any realistic chance to be traded or get back such a return.

The ideal target in that range would be Yaxel Lendeborg (6'8.75"), but he could easily be taken in the first 10 picks.

If so, they could target Karim Lopez (6'8.25") to fill the big wing role.

The Thunder (picks 12 and 17) and Hornets (picks 14 and 18) could be interested in Podz instead of taking two rookies.

This would not be an easy decision. Podz can sign an extension after the NBA Finals, and he's expressed interest in remaining with the Warriors.

But if Mike Dunleavy Jr. loves Burries and another prospect, the Warriors might be better off trading Podz for a second first-round pick so he can get both.