As draft night neared, Brandin Podziemski was finishing up a workout at the Golden State Warriors’ practice facility. The front office inhabits the second floor above the court. Between personnel meetings, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. descended for a break and spotted Podziemski. He delivered a revelation in their quick chat. “A lot of these other teams are calling about you,” Podziemski said Dunleavy told him. “They want you, but you’re not going anywhere. You’re ours.”
Source: New York Times
Source: New York Times
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“From a fan perspective, from a media perspective, there is this looking at the front office kind of crazy,” Podziemski said. “Like, ‘You didn’t make any trades? You want to keep Brandin? Why him?’ There are questions that obviously the public and the media has. I see my fair share of it. It’s cool, and it’s not. It’s cool to see you’re valued by another organization in the NBA for such a good player like Markkanen. But at the same time, now that the trade didn’t go through, people on social media look at it like it’s my fault. I don’t have anything to do with it. But it’s cool.” -via New York Times / August 28, 2024
That’s around the same time Podziemski ran into Warriors owner Joe Lacob. They both were at a Las Vegas Aces game during summer league and crossed paths at halftime. Lacob, according to Podziemski, told him he’d seen Jazz owner Ryan Smith at dinner the night before and let it be known Podziemski was protected. “He told me, ‘You don’t have anything to worry about. You’re a priority here,’” Podziemski said. “I appreciate that, being a rookie and going into my second year, hearing that from such a prestigious organization. It feels good. I’m wanted somewhere. So, I appreciate them. “They could keep me in the dark until a trade is done. But Mike and Joe were transparent from the draft to the Paul George situation to the Markkanen situation.” -via New York Times / August 28, 2024
Brian Windhorst: ‘The Warriors have hunted for new talent regardless of what they say. They tried to trade for Paul George, they offered stuff for Paul George, it didn’t happen. They tried to trade for Lauri Markkanen and offered some of the same stuff. Tim MacMahon: They didn’t try that hard; they had discussions, but Brandin Podziemski was completely off the table… Windhorst: I understand, the point is that they were legitimate conversations about trading for Paul George and Lauri Markkanen. Let’s keep that in mind, we’ve seen this many times where a team with something burning a hole in their pocket and it takes a while, but they find a deal. I’m not saying that deal will happen this summer, but Golden State has now gone after two significant players.’ -via YouTube / August 9, 2024