Anthony SlaterOct 10, 2026, 11:28 AM ETMultiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsThe Golden State Warriors and starting guard Brandin Podziemski have agreed to a five-year, $110 million contract extension, his agent Bill Duffy told ESPN’s Shams Charania, avoiding restricted free agency next summer.The fully guaranteed deal includes a mutual option in the final season (2031-32) and a trade kicker. The unique mutual option allows either side to opt in, but not opt out, of the final season of the deal, allowing both sides to reopen potential extension conversations that offseason.Podziemski, 23, is entering his fourth season after the Warriors selected him 19th overall in the 2023 NBA draft. He was the first pick of general manager Mike Dunleavy’s tenure and a player Dunleavy and the front office prioritized keeping in the fold.He will make $5.6 million this season in the final year of his rookie deal. That figure will jump up to $18.9 million next season in the first year of the extension.As contract talks intensified in the past month, keeping that initial salary number at a manageable level was an important negotiation point on the Warriors’ side, team sources said.Dunleavy has been protective of the team’s 2027-28 cap space, building a roster loaded with expiring contracts while convincing superstar guard Stephen Curry that the benefit of taking a $10 million pay cut for next season is in maintaining the ability to better transform the roster around him via free agency or trade in his final seasons.
The Warriors have four tradable first-round picks.Podziemski had a projected cap hold next summer of around $17 million, so his first-year salary will slice an extra $1.9 million from what could have been available had they pushed the conversation to restricted free agency.The Warriors could still have somewhere between $55 million to $60 million in space, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, considering they can cut veteran center Kristaps Porzingis, who has only $3 million of his $20 million for next season guaranteed and is out indefinitely with a health issue.Expectations are relatively low for the Warriors entering the regular season. They are without starting wings Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody (both are rehabbing serious knee injuries), and it remains unclear when they will get Porzingis back, keeping them without three of their top six players.But Podziemski’s presence has become a constant. He was one of only 18 NBA players to appear in all 82 games last season, setting career highs in points per game (13.8), made 3s, assists and steals.His youth and durability are valued on a roster that is otherwise aging and incessantly banged up. Warriors coach Steve Kerr calls Podziemski a “connector” and points to his underlying metrics as a sign of his positive contributions.Podziemski is an elite rebounder at the guard position, averaging more than five per game in all three of his seasons while ranking in the top three in charges drawn since he has entered the NBA.”Brandin is a huge part of our team,” Kerr said.
“He makes people better. He understands the game.”As a rookie, the Warriors won Podziemski’s minutes by a team-best 264 points. In his second season, that sat at a steady 261 points in the positive direction, behind only Curry and Draymond Green.Last season, with Curry and Butler out for long stretches, Podziemski was thrust into a higher usage role and struggled to level up his offensive game, generating some concern that there was a ceiling on his long-term outlook.But Podziemski settled into more of a groove late in the season and enters his fourth year as the starting shooting guard next to Curry, sliding him back into a more complementary role as a secondary playmaker in the final season of his rookie contract.The five-year, $110 million extension, after it kicks in next season, has max raises as follows: $18.9 million, $20.4 million, $22 million, $23.5 million and a $25 million mutual option.
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