The Golden State Warriors assigned Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski to the Santa Cruz Warriors ahead of their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Golden State won their Nov. 3 contest but struggled to match their opponent’s energy for stretches of the game.
According to Draymond Green, the Warriors needed their rookies to provide some “juice” off the bench. The veteran forward told the media he hopes the Warriors have Jackson-Davis and Podziemski on their bench for their next in-season tournament game. Both rookies have had a strong start to life in the NBA and have proven capable of impacting when called upon.
“I thought our energy wasn’t there. That could have been a lot better. I also think our young fellas not being here, Trayce, BP, and Lester, and the energy that they bring to this team, we missed that. So, next time we have an in-season tournament game, we need those guys here.
They bring a lot of juice for us. You always talk about young guys bringing energy, that’s their job, we don’t have to tell those guys to bring energy, they do it every day…They’re a big part of the fabric of this team, we missed them tonight.”
The Warriors’ front office has done a great job of balancing veteran leadership and young talent. The blend is giving the bench rotation a new dimension and allowing Steve Kerr to cycle through lineup combinations to begin the season.
Draymond believes the Warriors' energy would have been better with Trayce Jackson-Davis, Brandin Podziemski and Lester Quinones on the bench in OKC, and considers them integral to the fabric of the team pic.twitter.com/8XYu5EoSuv
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 4, 2023
Following Green’s post-game comments, it will be interesting to see if Jackson-Davis and Podziemski are part of their team’s rotation when they play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 14 in what will be their next in-season tournament game.
