Steve Kerr Speaks on Where Brandin Podziemski Stands as a Defender

The Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers 101-89 in a preseason game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, and the best part of the night for me came once the game was over.

Guard Austin Reaves scored 28 points and gave the Warriors plenty of trouble early, so head coach Steve Kerr was asked afterward where guard Brandin Podziemski stands as a point-of-attack defender.

Kerr backed Podziemski without overselling him.

In his postgame session with reporters, Kerr said, "Brandin is definitely better off the ball than on the ball, but he's better than you think."

He also called Podziemski crafty and said he is in the right spots all the time and has good hands, but he pointed out that pick-and-roll defense is a five-man job and that the Warriors were not connected in the first half.

Podziemski started next to guard Stephen Curry and scored 17 points in the win, so he still gave the team plenty on offense on a night when the defense up top had a hard time.

Kerr's answer seems about right to me.

Podziemski is not going to lock up quick scoring guards one-on-one every night, but he reads plays well and gets his hands on the ball, which helps a lot in a team defense that is built around help and rotations.

The Warriors just gave him a five-year, $110 million extension that runs through the 2031-32 season, so they are clearly betting on him.

Kerr called him a big part of the team's future when the deal was signed, and Podziemski earned that trust by playing in all 82 games last season while averaging 13.8 points.

Nobody in the building is worried about his scoring, and Kerr has already talked about how well his game fits next to Curry.

Defense is where he can grow the most, and Kerr sounded like a coach who believes he can get there as long as the four players around him do their part.

That help may be harder to find early in the season.

Forward Draymond Green got the night off against the Lakers while center Al Horford did not make the trip, and center Kristaps Porzingis remains out indefinitely as he deals with an unspecified health issue.

Forward Jimmy Butler is still working back from a torn right ACL and guard Moses Moody is still recovering from a ruptured left patellar tendon, with both players listed as out.

The Warriors close the preseason against the Portland Trail Blazers at Chase Center on Friday night before they open the regular season against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Podziemski could see Reaves again right away, and Kerr noted on Tuesday that the Lakers did not play their starters for long, which will not be the case on opening night.

I expect Kerr to keep Podziemski in the starting group because his feel for the game helps on both ends, and once Green and Horford are back on the floor next to him, I think the point-of-attack worries will look a lot smaller by the end of the first month.