Why Yaxel Lendeborg believes Brandin Podziemski is an ‘elite scorer,’ and more from Warriors practice

LAIE, Hawaii — The home crowd, surely, didn’t come to see a flurry of up-fakes. Of body-bump sell-jobs. Of referee whistles stopping play during a simple open scrimmage. The native Hawaiians trickled into BYU-Hawaii’s gym this Thursday, after all, to see the Golden State Warriors’ show of ball-on-a-string connectivity and three-point brilliance that has captivated cities across America for a decade and a half. 

They were treated, above anything else, to the herks and jerks and methodically ascending game of Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski. 

“Picking up right where he left off last year,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after Thursday’s open practice. “He’s one of our best players.”

Podziemski, plain and simple, looked like the best scorer on the floor across a rough hour and a half of scrimmage action at BYU. He knocked in a buzzer-beating heave from deep. He was efficient on catch-and-shoot looks. And — most importantly for Golden State’s season outlook — he touched the paint more consistently than any other Warriors ballhandler, drawing a heap of shooting fouls and head-butting the ball away after an and-one finish over 2025 second-round pick Alex Toohey. 

The Warriors finished 27th in the NBA in free-throw attempts last season, and they will miss rim-hunting artist Jimmy Butler for much of the season. Someone needs to be decisive enough, particularly as Golden State shifts to more of a five-out setup earlier in possessions, to attack the paint consistently in half-court offense. 

The 23-year-old Podziemski averaged 4.5 free throws a game across the final two months of last season, showcasing an increasingly decisive nose for the paint on Thursday.

“He’s an elite scorer,” rookie Yaxel Lendeborg said after practice. “I’ve seen, pretty much every time we’re in a fast-break drill, he can easily get in there, manipulate the defense for an and-one, get a couple free throws.”

Podziemski, now, is minted as Golden State’s starting two-guard come their preseason opener in Honolulu on Sunday. Kerr told reporters that the clear blue-jerseyed first team at Thursday’s practice — Podziemski, Stephen Curry, Lendeborg, Draymond Green and Al Horford — will open the game against the Clippers, as the Warriors will get a direct look at how new five-out concepts play against actual competition.

“All three of those guys, Al, Yaxel and BP, can shoot the three but also make plays,” Kerr said. “So it’s a good, well-balanced lineup. The question will be, can we do that opening night? Given the age of Al, and the minutes and all that stuff. Who knows? But for now, that’s how we’ll start.”

Beyond Podziemski’s aggressiveness, here are three other points that stood out from the Warriors’ open practice Thursday. 

Gui Santos, leading the second team

Speaking of young Warriors who could make a self-creation leap: Forward Gui Santos, now 24, was the clear focal point of Golden State’s second team Thursday, often finding driving lanes to open up assists and showcasing notable off-the-bounce juice. The highlight: a double-sidestep triple off a pick-and-roll over Lendeborg, with zero hesitation for a career 35% shooter from deep.

Kerr noted Wednesday that Golden State wants to see more “continued growth shooting the ball” from Santos. And there’s been no real magic to his mentality or process in working his shot this summer, as Santos chuckled to the Chronicle after practice.

“It’s basically like — make shots!” Santos grinned. “Make more shots. For me, I’m a guy that, I can shoot. I wasn’t shooting a good percentage last year — OK percentage. But if I’m a guy that can be on the court and make all the shots consistently, that would be way easier for me to play with Jimmy and Steph.”

Rookie’s defense needs work

Lendeborg’s defensive size, for a wing, is massive. Strength, too. He’s listed at 241 pounds, after all. The instincts, though, need work to thrive as a starter for Golden State. 

“I’ve been a guy that’s always, like, given up the jump shot, and kinda baited players to go into the paint and attack on me,” Lendeborg readily admitted after practice. “Here, I cannot do that.”

The Warriors’ No. 11 pick, as he himself noted, gave up a handful of triples Thursday. Santos hit one over him. So did guard De’Anthony Melton. The wingspan can’t help if a hand isn’t actually up in time.

“That’s something where I gotta get a little more aggressive,” Lendeborg said. “Play a little higher, and pretty much start — I guess, forcing them past now instead of trying to actually making them trying to score over the top.”

On the bright side for the Warriors, Lendeborg showcased a smooth stroke on catch-and-shoot looks from deep, an important development after he shot 37% on 4.5 attempts a game at Michigan last season.

First-team fits and starts

Interspersed with the old — a variety of off-ball screens to generate clean looks for Curry — was a variety of new Thursday, as the Warriors’ advertised five-out offense showed up plain and simple in their starting unit. They got up threes early and often, including a couple of hits from the 40-year-old Horford; Golden State led the NBA in three-point attempts last season, and showed no hints of that changing Thursday. 

Kerr’s harping on cleaning up turnovers, though, hasn’t quite taken. Curry and Green both fired off sloppy passes Thursday, and Lendeborg often ran into trouble when trying to knife into the paint. This, still, is very much a five-man unit in progress.