Warriors rookies Podz, TJD ready for bright NBA postseason lights

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Warriors rookies Podz, TJD ready for bright NBA postseason lights originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Former lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody were afterthoughts in Steve Kerr’s rotation as rookies when they had their first taste of the playoffs two years ago. Both Kuminga and Moody checked in for the final few minutes of the Warriors’ blowout wins against the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs. Neither played in Game 3, which also started a streak of five straight DNPs (Did Not Play) for Moody.

Kuminga, the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, received six DNPs throughout the Warriors’ championship run, and Moody, the No. 14 overall pick, never came off the bench in nine of Golden State’s 22 playoff games before winning a ring as a rookie.

That, of course, was a much different team than these Warriors, and their rookies find themselves in a much different position going into Tuesday night’s NBA Play-In Tournament game at Golden 1 Center between the No. 10-seed Warriors and No. 9-seed Sacramento Kings. Neither Brandin Podziemski nor Trayce Jackson-Davis will see a DNP next to their name.

Though their draft position was much lower that of Kuminga and Moody, Podziemski and Jackson-Davis are expected to see significant playing time and be major factors in the Warriors moving on or coming to grips with a second consecutive early exit.

“Both those guys are going to play and they’re in the rotation,” Kerr said Monday at Chase Center after practice. “In the past we’ve had deeper teams, we’ve had different sets of circumstances. I would say we’ve had young guys who weren’t quite as experienced as these guys, so it was a longer development process.

“But I’m excited. I think they’re ready to play, and it’s going to be fun to see our young guys out there.”

Before being taken with the second-to-last pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, No. 57 overall, Jackson-Davis spent four years playing high-level college basketball at Indiana. The Warriors’ starting center played 126 college games, seven in the Big Ten Tournament and four in March…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/warriors-rookies-podz-tjd-ready-005323654.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-04-16 00:53:23

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