RealGM

Alright - rest of this forum is basically nothing but doom and gloom. Let's talk about one of the only bright spots this year.

With Kuminga lacking a brain and Moody apparently in possession of Nick Kerr's nudes, Podz out of nowhere looks like our most promising young player. We also have a pretty good track record with guards who look 12 years old and shoot lights out and rebound like bigs.

My only concern is what happens when teams figure out he's basically whatever the opposite of ambidextrous is

What do you think, could Podz become everything we wanted Poole to become? Or is he yet another asset at peak trade value we're about to bet on long-term only to ship him off for GP2 again in 3 years?

He's currently right near the top of virtually every winning metric amongst rookies. And for the first time in what feels like ages, Kerr is playing a rookie more minutes than their draft slot would be expected to play (that goes for Trayce as well). For instance, its really only Jaquez, Lively, and Wallace playing more MPG on teams with high seeding aspirations (Black more total minutes as well).

He's really good obviously. I have been following him since November of 2022 when I did a short video on him because he was blowing up after a few games at Santa Clara. I was pretty skeptical at the time but he proved over the course of the season that he was legit. I had him 15 in the draft and now that feels too low. Was an obvious Warriors pick (along with Lively who has also been exactly what I thought he could be) and I'm glad we got him. In terms of our current prospect rankings I'd have to go Podz > Moody > JK right now. I still feel like Kerr needs to free Moody more, but it is what it is. He trusts Podz, doesn't really trust Moody enough.

Podz literally does everything on the floor. Rebounds, understands defensive assignments, is in the right positions off the ball, been a bit hit or miss on ball, but he gives effort there. Offensively he's a connector, passes, can hit open shots. Biggest concerns are offensive creation, not sure he'll be able to be a go to scorer. Needs to be more aggressive shooting the ball off the catch. He also just runs around on offense sometimes but hey at least he's moving. He's been a huge bright spot and Kerr trusts him and plays him more than any other rookie we've ever had. Though he inexplicably was out of the rotation for IST games. SMH Kerr has been horrible rotation wise, or are we blaming Chris Weems?

Yep I'm a stan. I was rooting for Wiseman, Poole and Anthony Randolph back in the day.

Anyway despite Podz shortcomings I love watching the kid because he has ticker. Basically the opposite of what tinman Wiggins has.

Just throwing it out there... in Klay's rookie season, when it became clear that the Curry/Monta pairing wasn't working, Monta was shipped out which allowed Klay to start and develop with Curry. And it turned out to be one of the biggest franchise moves we've ever made

I never knew of this guy before he was signed. I usually just assume no one is going to work out after decades of watching draft picks . And even if someone does pan out, I usually did not see it before everyone else already did. Not a good predicter of what a player will become. But I am firmly in the stan group on this guy.. He is just intriguing and entertaining.

And I was my usual negative self on him when we first drafted him, and was calling him beaker from seasame street. I thought no way can this guy play.

Yea I know...

CDM_Stats wrote:Just throwing it out there... in Klay's rookie season, when it became clear that the Curry/Monta pairing wasn't working, Monta was shipped out which allowed Klay to start and develop with Curry. And it turned out to be one of the biggest franchise moves we've ever made

Are you saying Podz should start over Moody?????

Onus wrote:

CDM_Stats wrote:Just throwing it out there... in Klay's rookie season, when it became clear that the Curry/Monta pairing wasn't working, Monta was shipped out which allowed Klay to start and develop with Curry. And it turned out to be one of the biggest franchise moves we've ever made

Are you saying Podz should start over Moody?????

Podz is the higher ceiling player, a much needed ball handler to pair with Steph, and is more of a true guard than Moody. I'm really curious how things would look with a Podz/Curry backcourt.

Onus wrote:

CDM_Stats wrote:Just throwing it out there... in Klay's rookie season, when it became clear that the Curry/Monta pairing wasn't working, Monta was shipped out which allowed Klay to start and develop with Curry. And it turned out to be one of the biggest franchise moves we've ever made

Are you saying Podz should start over Moody?????

Without Draymond we have no secondary handler, so yes

DonaldSanders wrote:

Onus wrote:

CDM_Stats wrote:Just throwing it out there... in Klay's rookie season, when it became clear that the Curry/Monta pairing wasn't working, Monta was shipped out which allowed Klay to start and develop with Curry. And it turned out to be one of the biggest franchise moves we've ever made

Are you saying Podz should start over Moody?????

Podz is the higher ceiling player, a much needed ball handler to pair with Steph, and is more of a true guard than Moody. I'm really curious how things would look with a Podz/Curry backcourt.

Oh I agree. I'm high on Podz.

CDM_Stats wrote:

Onus wrote:

CDM_Stats wrote:Just throwing it out there... in Klay's rookie season, when it became clear that the Curry/Monta pairing wasn't working, Monta was shipped out which allowed Klay to start and develop with Curry. And it turned out to be one of the biggest franchise moves we've ever made

Are you saying Podz should start over Moody?????

Without Draymond we have no secondary handler, so yes

very interesting. But how about when dray comes back?

Onus wrote:

DonaldSanders wrote:

Onus wrote:Are you saying Podz should start over Moody?????

Podz is the higher ceiling player, a much needed ball handler to pair with Steph, and is more of a true guard than Moody. I'm really curious how things would look with a Podz/Curry backcourt.

Oh I agree. I'm high on Podz.

CDM_Stats wrote:

Onus wrote:Are you saying Podz should start over Moody?????

Without Draymond we have no secondary handler, so yes

very interesting. But how about when dray comes back?

id imagine that by the time Dray comes back, they will have answered the question for us

I'm still a big believer in the idea of a Curry-Moody-Wiggins-Dray-Looney lineup being near lockdown defensively and capable enough offensively, but if Podz can hang with the starters during Dray's absence, assuming he gets the opportunity to play without having Klay paired with him.. I'm ok with seeing that play out too. Podz' energy level might make him an ideal POA defender, which would push Wiggins back into his role, which would make Dray and Looney more effective, etc etc

The big revelation to me is that suddenly he looks useful on defense. I said it before in some other thread, but that is what he has to do to be a plus player. We knew he could handle, shoot, rebound. If he can defend then he will be starter quality.

Can we stop talking about whether or not Moody should start? That's not the most important conversation. The most important conversation is when is Kerr going to start consistently giving him 25 minutes a game? Because that's what is needed. I couldn't care less if he starts or if he closes really, although most nights he probably should be.

He's got Caruso like instincts on defense. And he's a connector on offense the way Andre was.

Podz isn't going to be this teams savior. He's just not big & strong enough yet.

He reminds me of a sneaky Jason Kid, especially when he jumps in and rips rebounds away from dudes. He's a strong, scrappy player. I like his game a lot but, again, he's undersized IF playing next to Curry.

The key, IMO, will be his shooting. Warriors win the game against Clippers if he has a good shooting night.

Bayside wrote:And I was my usual negative self on him when we first drafted him, and was calling him beaker from seasame street.

Beaker is a badass survivor!

also this:

With Draymond out who will be the facilitator that lets Curry play off the ball? It would have been Iguodala if he was not too old to be an NBA player.

Corey Joseph and Chris Paul might be too small to play with Curry. The bench needs Chris Paul.

So by default I think Podz needs to do Draymonds job on the offense.

Keep playing the Podz Kuminga starting lineup for a while. Wiggins needs to earn his way back into the starting line up.

.

I look at all the underhanded layups and hooks he makes and wonder if that's really sustainable.

Curry has sustained it because he's a great ball handler able to attack closeouts and can finish well with either hand.

Haven't seen that yet from Podz.

More likely instead of getting all the way to the rim, he's going to have to develop some runners and tear drops to diversify his shotmaking.

Otherwise if he can't remain a threat to attack closeouts and finish in the paint at a high percentage, he will lose a lot of effectiveness.

A player like Maxey has leveled up a lot because he has insane quickness and athleticism but that has led to him getting more space to hit 3s and he's hit them at a high level.

Podz can certainly beat big men off the dribble if he's able to get switched around the FT line and he can beat them downhill.

He's got to show that he can go either left or right and finish either way. He's also got to finish with some contact, like jump into defenders under the basket and take away the shot block or get defenders on his hip and stop to draw fouls.

Otherwise he might just be a good role player but nothing much more.


I was skeptical of Bronny but he's a bigger, stronger, more explosive athlete than Podz and Lebron has had him work on his shot so I can see teams drafting him higher than the 20s as some speculated. Of course he has to get above his health concerns.