The Golden State Warriors lost an exceedingly strange game, 98-99, to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night, roaring back after going down by 20 early in the game and ultimately losing due to a disastrous string of events in the fourth quarter.
Yet, with both Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler out due to injury, the team looked toward third-year guard Brandin Podziemski to pick up the slack, and he yet again fell short. Through 19 minutes on the court, he posted just six points, six rebounds and zero assists, and the team was a brutal -20 in his minutes.
If this were a one-time occurence, it could be written off as a bad night for the young guard. Yet, Podziemski has routinely failed to step up when the team has most needed him to, and it is perhaps time for the Warriors to come to a brutal realization.
Podziemski may never be the type of aggressive offensive player they once hoped he could become.
Brandin Podziemski may always struggle to take up the mantle of primary scorer- and that could have disastrous effects beyond the Curry era
As a rookie, Podziemski emerged as one of the most talented young scorers in his class. He averaged 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists, earning consideration for Rookie of the Year. Since that time, his averages have consistently improved year-over-year, and, from a pure statistical perspective, it seems as though he is having a career season in 2025-26.
Yet, he has also routinely struggled to add the aggression to his game that Golden State has hoped he would. Take, for example, his performance in last year’s playoffs when both Butler and Curry were forced to miss time.
Across the 12 games he played, he scored 10 or less points in seven of them. His particularly poor shooting in the Minnesota series (33.9% from the field/30.4% from 3-point range) was a major contributing factor in the team’s inability to hold off their opponent until Curry could return from his hamstring strain.
Don’t get it wrong, Podziemski is a solid rebounding guard and has, largely, looked like an improved scorer this season. Yet, he has shown time and time again that, when the team needs him to take on a defense headfirst, he is largely incapable of doing so.
Yet, one would assume that, with the current construction of the roster, the organization intends Podziemski to be a cornerstone of the team when the Curry era inevitably comes to an end. In the meantime, therefore, they must ask themselves a serious question.
Is Podziemski capable of becoming a primary offensive option? Or is he simply a solid complementary scorer?