The Warriors answered one of their quieter roster questions before tipoff season could turn it into noise.
Golden State agreed to a five-year, $110 million extension with guard Brandin Podziemski, his agent Bill Duffy told ESPN's Shams Charania on Saturday. The fully guaranteed deal includes a mutual option in the final season (2031-32) and a trade kicker. The mutual option lets either side opt in - but not opt out - of that last year, reopening extension talks that offseason, ESPN reported.
Podziemski, 23 and entering his fourth season, was the No. 19 pick in 2023 and the first draft choice of general manager Mike Dunleavy's tenure. The extension keeps him out of restricted free agency next summer.
"We're thrilled to get an extension done with Brandin prior to the deadline," Dunleavy said in the team's announcement. "Brandin has continued to improve and expand his game since he entered the league as a mid-first round pick, and we think his upward trajectory will only continue. He's a durable, skilled, two-way player that makes our team better each time he takes the court."
Cap math behind the handshake
Podziemski will make $5.6 million this season on the final year of his rookie deal, then $18.9 million next season in the first year of the extension, ESPN reported. Keeping that first extension salary manageable mattered to a front office protecting 2027-28 cap space while Stephen Curry took a $10 million pay cut to leave room for roster moves, team sources told ESPN.
Podziemski's projected cap hold next summer was about $17 million, so the $18.9 million first-year number trims roughly $1.9 million relative to waiting for restricted free agency, per ESPN's Bobby Marks.
Golden State could still hold somewhere between $55 million and $60 million in space depending on decisions around Kristaps Porzingis, who has only $3 million of his $20 million for next season guaranteed and is out indefinitely, ESPN reported.
