Dub Hub: Brandin Podziemski makes his case for NBA All-Rookie team

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Thursday, April 25th.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• Brandin Podziemski discusses why he and fellow rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis should be selected for an NBA All-Rookie team
• Steve Kerr explains why he wants to ‘simplify’ the Warriors’ offense
• Heat hit franchise playoff record 23 threes to beat the Celtics 111-101

One of the few bright spots this season for the Golden State Warriors was the performances of their two rookies, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis. The Class of 2023 duo exceeded everyone’s expectations and became key players in the Warriors’ rotation by the end of the year.

In a recent article by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson, Podziemski states that both he and Jackson-Davis should be selected to an NBA All-Rookie team due to their impact on the Warriors this season.

Via NBC Sports Bay Area:

“It does to me,” Podziemski said to NBC Sports Bay Area when asked if the All-Rookie team matters to him. “I think me and Trayce should both be on the All-Rookie team, whether that’s first or second. I think I should be first team.”

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Thursday, April 25th:

Warriors News:

Why Warriors’ Podziemski believes he’s NBA All-Rookie first team

“I don’t know how they look at it – if it’s numbers based, if it’s wins based, if you’re impacting the team,” Podziemski said. “All in all, if you look at the top-five rookies I think I’m in that category, just based on what I bring on a daily basis, who I have around me, what kind of team I’m playing on, my usages.

“Because I feel like If I was in some of the other rookie’s situations ... I’m still putting up more numbers too.”

The impact Podziemski made on the Warriors is his calling card for All-Rookie. “He’s changing the narrative of what it means to be a Warriors rookie,” one NBA source said to NBC Sports Bay Area during Podziemski’s rookie year. That same source also called Podziemski the best help defender as a Warriors rookie since Draymond Green.

Klay must be Warriors’ priority, but Moody has earned opportunity | NBC Sports Bay Area

Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown – who was on Golden State’s staff before and after Thompson’s injuries – had his wings hunting matchups against Klay in the NBA Play-In Tournament game last week.

Moody is, by contrast, one of Golden State’s best defenders, on the ball or off it. His 110.2 rating ranked second on the team, behind only Gary Payton II (108.9) and just ahead of Draymond Green (110.7).

Though Moody’s defense would offset some of the scoring lost with Thompson coming off the bench, he’s no zero on offense. He shot 46.2 percent from the field, including 36.0 deep, but those percentages rose to 51.9/39.5 when he started. Thompson shot 43.2/38.7 percent overall, 42.5/37.7 when starting.

Steve Kerr on the Warriors’ transition, Steph Curry’s burden and the Olympics | The Athletic

What are the details of how the Warriors can adjust their offense? Possibly a bit of a move away from the motion offense that Kerr installed 10 years ago and helped lead to all those victories and titles?

“To me, it’s more about making the game easier for the players within our actions,” Kerr said. “We’ve always had kind of a read-and-react motion style that for many years was obviously lethal. The last couple years, we’ve kind of been a little bit stuck in-between. We ran more pick-and-rolls this year than we have in a long time. And our pick-and-roll game is effective. But without the spacing that a team like Boston or OKC has with all of the shooters, you really do need to generate offense through passing and movement and cutting. And I think there’s a way to make that movement easier on the younger players and the guys who maybe haven’t felt as comfortable within the stuff we’ve been doing the last couple years.

“I’m not talking about a complete overhaul. I’m really talking more about simplifying things and finding better ways to teach those actions we are gonna run.”

Some silver linings, but softer start to NBA Playoffs | Sports Media Watch

There were a couple of bright spots, but the opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs could not overcome a spate of blowouts and the absence of the Golden State Warriors.

The opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs averaged a 2.0 rating and 3.77 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT and truTV, down 8% in ratings and 9% in viewership from last year (2.2, 4.15M), which was the most-watched opening weekend since 2011 (4.32M).

Saturday’s Lakers-Nuggets Game 1 was the top game of the weekend (NBA or otherwise) with a 2.8 and 5.65 million on ABC, down 13% in ratings and 10% in viewership from Warriors-Kings last year (3.2, 6.56M), but still the second-largest audience on the opening Saturday of the playoffs since 1999. (As with any multi-year highs, keep in mind that out-of-home viewing was not tracked in Nielsen final nationals until 2020.)

Warriors’ individual defensive ratings for the 2023-24 season

NBA News:

Heat make 23 3s to even series with Celtics | NBA

Playing their third straight game without playoff stalwart Jimmy Butler, who was injured in the opening play-in game, Miami shot better than 50% from 3-point range in each of the first three quarters (and a still productive 4 of 10 in the fourth).

After Boston cut an 11-point lead to six, 102-96, with 3:16 to play, Martin hit a 3 and Boston never got as close as two possessions again.

“You have to take ‘em, based on how they were playing us the first two games,” said Spoelstra, who saw Boston hit 22 3-pointers to Miami’s 12 in the opener. “I did not want to get annihilated in that department like we did the game before.”

Timberwolves’ Naz Reid wins NBA Sixth Man of the Year award | ESPN

Reid just edged out Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk, who finished second. Reid and Monk had the same number of second-place (39) and third-place (10) votes, with the 10-point difference (352 to 342) coming down to Reid getting 45 first-place votes, compared to 43 for Monk.

According to NBA Communications, the 10-point difference between Reid and Monk was the smallest margin in NBA Sixth Man of the Year balloting under the current voting format, which began with the 2002-03 season.

NBA insider Shams Charania gives an update on the injury to Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

What should the starting lineup be next year?

But if that’s too big for Golden State, Wiggins and Moody are certainly quality options to have. Moody is large enough to start at the three, and we all know what Wiggins is capable of. The bigger question with Wiggins is probably whether the Dubs would be comfortable benching him ... they seemed quite hesitant to do so during the season, but that tune my shift with a new year.

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.