Warriors guard expected to be involved in trade discussion according to insider

The Golden State Warriors have gotten off to an electric 10-2 start, beating expectations to sit a half-game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for second in the Western Conference standings.

That has opened up a big question about whether the Warriors will be more or less inclined to explore a trade before the Feb. 6 deadline — will the front office be more aggressive as they look closer to contention than most thought, or will they hesitate to mess up with the chemistry, vibes and form that has been so impressive so far?

At least the answer to that question seems to be the former right now according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst earlier this week. Bontemps stated that “Scouts and executives have pegged Golden State and Houston as the two teams most likely to make a splash.”

After attempting to acquire both Paul George and Lauri Markkanen this offseason, the Warriors have retained all of their young talent and future draft picks with the potential to leverage that in a trade.

Young guard Brandin Podziemski got used to his name in trade talks throughout the Markkanen saga, and he might get used to it, according to Bontemps.

“It’s good that Podziemski was able to learn to deal with his name coming up in trade talks this summer — because it’s going to happen again this season,” said Bontemps.

Bontemps stopped short of suggesting that Podziemski will be traded, but the fact remains that he remains Golden State’s most valuable young player despite an indifferent start to the season. Fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga could also be involved in discussions, but his impending free agency means his trade value is somewhat hampered.

Podziemski’s shooting hasn’t quite caught up so far this season, with last year’s All-Rookie First Team member averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 39.6% shooting from the floor and 20% from three-point range.

Despite the shooting issues, Podziemskis remained efficient to finish second on the Warriors in plus-minus behind superstar Stephen Curry. The young guard also delivered one of the highlights of the season on Friday when he sensationally saved the ball from going out of bounds and perfectly found a running Kuminga for a dunk all in one sequence.

Podziemski has dealt with a broken nose and illness through the first dozen games this season, and the Warriors reportedly remain very high on the 21-year-old, according to Bontemps.