The Golden State Warriors have found themselves in a difficult position when it comes to their future, because their future is currently in doubt.

When the era of guard Steph Curry and forward Draymond Green finally comes to an end, Golden State will have to face a difficult question of what comes next. Their attempts at securing the next generation of stars hasn't panned out, with their hopes in players like center James Wiseman and forward Jonathan Kuminga simply haven't panned out. 

The one young player that has persisted through a difficult period of change for the Warriors in guard Brandin Podziemski, but the fact that he's the lone player left from that process is itself a reason for controversy. 

What makes matters worse for the Warriors' murky future is the fact that they haven't had much of a present as of late either. Since winning the 2022 NBA Finals, the Warriors have been on a steady decline that has most recently resulted in a play-in tournament elimination this past season, the second time in three seasons that they've missed the true playoffs. 

Where Podziemski fits into that dilemma is the fact that he's essentially taken a roster spot away from a Warriors' franchise legend, guard Klay Thompson. 

Thompson was traded away from the Warriors before the 2024-25 season, while Podziemski remained and essentially took over the roster spot left by Thompson, but two former NBA players, one of them a former Warrior himself, have a serious issue with that. 

In a recent episode of the "Gil's Arena" podcast, Gilbert Arenas and DeMarcus Cousins took a deep look at the both Podziemski and Thompson and in the process absolutely torched Podziemski. 

Cousins said that Podziemski isn't a "game changer" and lamented that he didn't as much of a leash with the Warriors when he played there compared to what he feels Podziemski has now. 

Arenas took it a step further, feeling completely baffled that Podziemski still has a job with the Warriors and questioning if Podziemski has some kind of dirt on the organization to keep himself employed.

"He got to know something or know somebody," Arenas said. 

They took a look at both Podziesmki's numbers from last season and Thompson's numbers from the season before he was traded, numbers that were supposed to signal a major decline for Thompson. 

Last season, Podziemski averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 45.5% from the field and 37.1% from three. Thompson, on the other hand, averaged 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 43.2% from the field and 38.7% from the field while also playing above average defense in the 2023-24 season. 

Both Arenas and Cousins simply couldn't believe that the numbers that had Thompson deemed "not good enough" were more or less the same numbers that have kept Podziemski on the roster and by the end of their discussion they were both simply in disbelief that Podziemski was still in Golden State, even as Danny Green chimed in to defend Podziemski. 

The Warriors will need talented young players to lead them into the future, but it's safe to say that neither Cousins nor Arenas think that Podziesmki is the guy to do it.