- Position
- G
- Number
- #2
- Age
- 23
- Pieces here
- 11
On the record
Called Shots →Golden State's apron-basis team salary is still above the first apron of $209,015,000 on opening night of the 2026-27 season.
Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos and Will Richard combine for more total regular-season minutes for the Golden State Warriors in 2026-27 than Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis do.
Brandin Podziemski does not sign a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors on or before October 19, 2026, the deadline for rookie-scale extensions.
Brandin Podziemski's 2027-28 salary, under the next NBA contract he signs with any club (rookie-scale extension, restricted free-agent deal or offer sheet, or the qualifying offer), is $23,500,000 or more.
Written about him
What would a Brandin Podziemski extension cost Golden State's 2027 room?
Nine rookie-scale extensions below the maximum were signed in 2025 and 2026. Converted to a share of the salary cap, the four whose third seasons look most like Podziemski's 2025-26 started at an average of 13.4 percent, which is about $23.5 million against the league's projected 2027-28 cap of $176 million. That is roughly $6.5 million more than the $17 million hold Golden State would otherwise carry into next summer.
Al Horford is headed back to the bench he sat on for 32 games last season
Steve Kerr moved Al Horford out of Golden State's starting lineup before Tuesday's preseason game against the Lakers and said Horford will most likely come off the bench when the regular season starts, as reported by Anthony Slater of ESPN and Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. Gui Santos replaced him, Draymond Green moved to center and Yaxel Lendeborg to power forward. Horford then did not play at all: Luca Evans of the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing a team source, that he was scratched with a left knee contusion as a largely precautionary measure, and Slater reported he will not travel to Portland on Wednesday. The new five of Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Santos, Lendeborg and Green played 4:54 together at the start of the game and outscored the Lakers 23-13 in that stretch, per ESPN's play-by-play. Golden State won 124-98 against a Lakers team on the second night of a back-to-back that did not play Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves or Walker Kessler. Horford started 13 of his 45 games for Golden State in 2025-26 and played more than 25 minutes in 14 of them. Kristaps Porzingis remains away from the team with what general manager Mike Dunleavy has called a health issue.
Kerr sat three starters at halftime and kept Yaxel Lendeborg on the floor
Golden State lost its preseason opener to the Clippers, 104-101, in Honolulu on Sunday, October 4. The five Steve Kerr named on October 1, Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg, Draymond Green and Al Horford, started and played three minutes and 14 seconds together before the first substitution, per the NBA's play-by-play. Curry, Green and Horford played the first half only, at 12:58, 13:52 and 15:42. Lendeborg played 18:44, the most minutes of the 18 Warriors who appeared, and started the second half with Podziemski, De'Anthony Melton, Gui Santos and Charles Bassey. He had four points on 1-of-6 shooting, a game-high nine rebounds and three assists. Kerr said afterward that Lendeborg was good and needs to be more aggressive. When Kerr named the five, he said he did not know whether it would start on opening night, and the reason he gave was Horford's age and minutes. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody did not play. Five preseason games remain before the October 21 opener at the Lakers.
Stephen Curry took nearly $21 million less and kept the 20th season for himself
Stephen Curry agreed on September 25 to a two-year, $116 million contract extension with the Golden State Warriors, first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN; the club announced the signing that night. Per Anthony Slater of ESPN, Curry's salary drops from $62.6 million this season to $55.7 million in 2027-28, then $60.2 million in 2028-29 on a player option. The maximum was two years and $136.7 million. ESPN reports the Warriors laid out several paths including waiting and a slight pay cut, and that the cut gives them about $10 million more projected cap space in the summer of 2027, when Jimmy Butler's and Draymond Green's contracts expire; Bobby Marks puts the space between $38 million and $55 million depending on Brandin Podziemski. The Associated Press notes 2028-29 would be Curry's 20th season, which would make him the fourth player to spend 20 or more with one franchise, after Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Udonis Haslem. One take filed, on Podziemski's October 19 extension deadline.
The Warriors Are Counting On The Three Men Who Played The Most Minutes On A 37-45 Team
Steve Kerr told the Tom Tolbert Show on Friday that Golden State tried to get younger this offseason and could not, that nothing offered to the club made sense to him, and that depth is now the answer. He said the back end of the roster, including the two-way players, has to hold the fort until Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody return in the second half. Golden State's published schedule lists 80 regular-season games with dates, and 47 of them fall before February. The men Kerr named already carried the largest share of last season's minutes: Brandin Podziemski led the team at 2,333, and Gui Santos and Will Richard were fourth and fifth. Stephen Curry was sixth and Butler eighth. That arrangement produced 37 wins and 45 losses. Butler turns 37 on September 14 and is listed OUT. Two takes filed, on minutes and on Richard's starts.
Stephen Curry Played Ten Games Without Jimmy Butler Last Season. Golden State Went 4-6.
Golden State's 37-45 season splits four ways by who was available. With Curry and Butler both playing, the Warriors were 20-13 across 33 games. With neither, they were 10-24 across 34. The condition they open the 2026-27 season in, Curry available and Butler not, happened ten times last season and produced a 4-6 record. Butler is not expected back before early 2027 and Moody has no club timeline, which leaves 31.1 minutes a night at small forward and 25.7 at guard to be covered by Gui Santos, Will Richard, Brandin Podziemski, De'Anthony Melton and a rookie the club drafted eleventh. Two takes filed, on Yaxel Lendeborg's opening-night role and on how much of the season Butler plays.