The Golden State Warriors seem prepared to push Brandin Podziemski to be their next Stephen Curry.
There appears to be some strong writing on the walls for the Golden State Warriors. And it revolves around the fact that it may be time to turn the page toward a new era for the team. The start of that arrived this offseason when Klay Thompson signed with the Dallas Mavericks in free agency. It very much continued as the Warriors continued to be extremely protective of their young core in trade talks all summer.
Stephen Curry and Draymond Green may still be on the Warriors' roster but there's a strong argument to be made that it is time for the Warriors to begin to look to the future. Curry is going to turn 37 years old in March and Draymond will be 35. Considering the Warriors struck out in their attempts to significantly improve their roster this summer, it's hard to envision how this team is going to emerge as a championship contender in the Western Conference.
Considering Curry and Draymond are at the point of their careers where they should be playing for a contender in an attempt to win one more championship, it's naturally difficult for the Warriors to balance their young core and their established veterans. And as the start of the season quickly approaches, some big decisions need to be made.
And from the looks and sounds of things, it appears the Warriors may be prioritizing the development of the young core over building a contender. In fact, it's even been reported that the Warriors are in a position where they're going to push Podziemski hard in hopes he makes that jump to stardom this season.
The Golden State Warriors feel strongly about Brandin Podziemski's future
According to The Athletic reporter Anthony Slater, the Warriors want Podziemski to shoot between 8-10 3's per game. Part of that is the fallout of losing Klay but I also can't help but wonder if this is the Warriors attempting to find their "new" Curry.
In an ideal world, Curry will retire with the Warriors but it's pretty clear that Golden State is preparing for the worst-case scenario on that front. That has to be part of the reason the team has been so hesitant to include their young core in any trade talks this summer.
As much as the Warriors want Podziemski to succeed, I don't believe the Warriors are trying to replace Curry. But, at the same time, it does seem as if Golden State could be preparing for the possibility of losing him at some point in the future. The question is, will that be to retirement or trade?