- Position
- G
- Number
- #2
- Age
- 23
- Pieces here
- 25
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.
Stephen Curry plays in three or fewer of the second games of the 15 back-to-backs on Golden State's 2026-27 regular-season schedule as dated on October 16, 2026 (October 24, November 2, November 19, December 23, December 28, January 7, January 13, January 22, January 28, February 10, March 2, March 10, March 17, March 25 and April 9). 'Plays' means any regular-season minutes in ESPN's box score. A back-to-back created later by the two undated games does not count.
Brandin Podziemski plays in Golden State's home game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, October 23, 2026. 'Plays' means any minutes in ESPN's box score for that game. If the game is postponed, VOID.
Yaxel Lendeborg plays more total minutes than any other Golden State player across the Warriors' six home games of October 30 through November 9, 2026 (the Lakers, the Clippers, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando and New Orleans), by the sum of ESPN's box-score minutes. A tie for the most is WRONG. If any game is postponed, the claim is judged on the games played; if all six are postponed, VOID.
Brandin Podziemski averages 32.0 or more minutes per game across the Golden State games he plays in November 2026 (Pacific dates, November 1 through the home game against the Clippers on November 29), by the sum of ESPN's box-score minutes divided by the number of those games in which he logs a minute. A game he does not play does not count in either total. If he plays no November game, VOID.
On December 16, 2026, Basketball-Reference's 2026-27 on-off page for Yaxel Lendeborg shows an On-Off figure in the Difference block's ORtg column (the +/- per 100 possessions On minus Off value, which read -33.1 on November 9) better than -15.0, that is, a value greater than -15.0, covering Golden State's games played through December 15, 2026. If the page is not updated through December 15 when read on December 16, read it on the first later day it is, through December 20; if still not, VOID. If Lendeborg has not played in at least 10 of Golden State's games from November 9 through December 15, VOID.
Written about him
Richard's thumb opens a starting job, and Niang keeps winning from the bench
Golden State beat Phoenix, Miami and Orlando from November 2 to November 7 by a combined 30 points. Georges Niang came off the bench in all three, played just under 70 minutes and was plus 49, tied with Stephen Curry for the team's best. The starting five of Curry, Draymond Green, Yaxel Lendeborg, Brandin Podziemski and Will Richard was outscored by 25 in 13.5 minutes across Richard's two starts. Richard has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and is out against New Orleans on Monday, November 9, with no timetable; Gui Santos is listed as probable.
Golden State won the week by 54, all of it with Podziemski on the floor
Golden State won four straight from October 26 to November 1 after an 0-3 start, by a combined 54 points. Brandin Podziemski led the team with 135 of the 192 minutes and was plus-54, so the Warriors broke even in the 57 minutes he sat.
Lendeborg leads the Warriors in minutes, and Sunday starts a back-to-back
Golden State is 2-3 after five games, four of them on the road, and plays its next six at home: the Lakers on Friday, October 30, the Clippers on Sunday, November 1, Phoenix on Monday, November 2, then Miami, Orlando and New Orleans through November 9. Sunday and Monday are the second back-to-back of the season. On the first, October 23 and 24, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Al Horford and Brandin Podziemski did not play the second night and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg played 37 and 36 minutes. By ESPN box scores Lendeborg has played 168 minutes in five games, 29 or more in every one, the most on the team. He carried a foot listing into Wednesday's win at Minnesota and played 35 minutes.
The Warriors scored 122 on the night Curry, Green and Horford sat
Golden State opened 2026-27 at 0-3: 127-105 at the Lakers on October 21, 111-108 to Memphis on October 23 and 131-122 at Phoenix on October 24. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Al Horford played the first two and sat the third, the second night of a back-to-back, with Brandin Podziemski, who played only the Memphis game. By ESPN box scores the Warriors shot 41 percent in each of the two games the veterans played and 22 of 77 from three; on the night they sat the club shot 45 percent and 17 of 39. Opponents shot 136 of 253, 54 percent, across the three games. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg led Golden State in minutes all three nights, 102 in total, with 29 against the Lakers, 37 against Memphis and 36 at Phoenix. The club is at Denver on Monday, and ESPN's injury notes of October 25 list Gui Santos questionable with left knee tendinitis, Brandon Williams and Charles Bassey probable, and none of the four veterans on the report.
Curry and Podziemski are not expected at Phoenix, a night after Ike started
Stephen Curry said 'Probably not, but I'll talk to the staff' when asked Friday night about playing at Phoenix on Saturday, per Kevin Topley of NBC Sports Bay Area, and Anthony Slater of ESPN reported that Curry is expected to rest and that Brandin Podziemski will miss the game with back soreness. Podziemski said he 'tweaked it a little bit, nothing too serious.' It is the second game of Golden State's first back-to-back, eight days after Steve Kerr said the club does not play Curry in back-to-backs. On Friday the Warriors started Graham Ike, a two-way center, against Memphis with Charles Bassey out with a knee injury; Ike scored 10 points in 12 minutes. Golden State led 106-94 with 3:47 left, did not make another field goal, and lost 111-108 to fall to 0-2. Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Kristaps Porzingis are also out.
Podziemski played all 82 last season, and he will miss the first game of this one
The Golden State Warriors ruled guard Brandin Podziemski out of the season opener at the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, October 21, with lower back soreness, Anthony Slater of ESPN reported Tuesday night. Podziemski sat out the previous three days of practice and had been listed as questionable. He played all 82 regular-season games in 2025-26, one of 18 players to do so per Slater, with 43 starts and a team-high 2,333 minutes, and entered the opener on a run of 96 consecutive regular-season games by Basketball Reference game logs. He agreed on October 10 to a five-year, $110 million extension that begins next season. Stephen Curry is listed as probable with right ankle soreness. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are out rehabbing knee injuries and Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely.
Gui Santos has 11 of the 30 turnovers in Kerr's likely starting five
Steve Kerr made turnovers the subject of Monday's film session after counting about 90 through four preseason games; the box scores give 84. Through five games Golden State has 104, 20.8 a game, against 115 by its opponents. Last October the club had 110 in five exhibitions, then averaged 16.4 across its first five regular-season games and 15.7 across 82, team turnovers included, by ESPN's box scores. This fall the offense is new, which Kerr cited for holding off. Among the five Kerr is leaning toward for October 21, Gui Santos has 11 turnovers in 86 minutes across four games, after five in 71 minutes in last year's preseason and 1.5 a game last season. Podziemski has five, down from 14 last October, and Green three, down from 14. Kerr described Santos's place in that lineup as size and playmaking. Portland visits Chase Center on Friday for the last exhibition; Yaxel Lendeborg rolled his left ankle Tuesday and returned.
Porzingis is out indefinitely, and Bassey started when Green and Horford sat
The Warriors announced Wednesday that Kristaps Porzingis, who missed training camp and the first five preseason games, met with general manager Mike Dunleavy and Dr. Rick Celebrini at the practice facility on Tuesday and will remain out indefinitely due to the same health-related matter, but will be around the team. The club said it will give an update on a potential resumption of practice, playing status or timeline when available and appropriate. ESPN's Anthony Slater reported he is not cleared to practice. With Green and Horford resting in Tuesday's preseason game against the Lakers in Las Vegas, Charles Bassey started at center beside Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos and Yaxel Lendeborg and played 27 minutes with 12 rebounds, and Graham Ike played 12, in a 101-89 win. The season opens October 21 at the Lakers, with a back-to-back on October 23 and 24.
Kerr wants Green or Horford out there as often as possible. Saturday it was 37 of 48
Steve Kerr said after Monday's practice that he is leaning toward starting Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Yaxel Lendeborg and Draymond Green on October 21, with Al Horford off the bench, as reported by Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. His reason was Horford's minutes: about 20 a game is the limit, and he wants Green or Horford on the floor as often as possible to anchor the defense. Saturday against Sacramento was the only preseason game Horford has played as a reserve. By NBA.com's substitution log, Green or Horford was on the floor for 37:32 of 48 minutes, both for 6:10, and neither for 10:28, of which Charles Bassey covered the last 8:09. Horford averaged 21.6 minutes across 45 games last season by ESPN's game log, 20.0 across the first 30, and did not play both nights of any of Golden State's 16 back-to-backs. The second and third games of the season are a back-to-back. Kristaps Porzingis is expected at Chase Center on Tuesday to meet the performance staff, and Kerr could not say whether he will be available for the opener. Horford is not traveling to Tuesday's game in Las Vegas, which Kerr called planned maintenance.
Podziemski got his $110 million, and Golden State kept most of next summer
Brandin Podziemski and the Golden State Warriors agreed on October 10 to a five-year, $110 million rookie-scale extension, his agent Bill Duffy told Shams Charania of ESPN. The deal is fully guaranteed, carries a trade kicker and ends in a 2031-32 mutual option that, per ESPN, either side can opt into but not out of. Podziemski makes $5.6 million this season and $18.9 million in 2027-28, with maximum 8 percent raises to a $25 million option year. ESPN reports that keeping the first-year salary low was a priority for the Warriors, because his projected cap hold next summer was about $17 million, so the extension costs about $1.9 million of 2027 room. Bobby Marks of ESPN says Golden State could still have $55 million to $60 million in space, counting a release of Kristaps Porzingis, who has $3 million of his $20 million 2027-28 salary guaranteed. Podziemski, 23 and the 19th pick in 2023, played all 82 games last season and starts at shooting guard next to Stephen Curry.
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.