Dub Hub: Brandin Podziemski ready to embrace a bigger role with Steph Curry out

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Tuesday, October 29th.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• Brandin Podziemski says he’s ready to embrace a bigger role with Steph Curry ruled out for the next two games.
• Warriors to debut their new Classic Edition jerseys in Tuesday’s matchup against the Pelicans.
• Magic’s Paolo Banchero scores 37 in first half vs. Pacers, finishes the night with 50 points.

With Stephen Curry sidelined for the next two games due to an ankle sprain, Brandin Podziemski is set to step into a larger role as the starting point guard for the Golden State Warriors—a responsibility he’s ready to embrace.

Podziemski is eager to make his mark in Curry’s absence. Known for his versatility and toughness on the court, he earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors last season, finishing his first year in the league averaging 9.2 points, 3.7 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game.

The 21-year-old guard continues to make an impact on this year’s Warriors’ roster as evidenced by his team-high plus-minus of +19. His versatility off the bench has given the Warriors flexibility in their lineups, but now with him expected to be elevated into the starting role, Podziemski seems determined to take full advantage of the extended playing time.

“I train myself in the offseason to be ready to play 35-40 minutes on a given night,” Podziemski said. “I’m ready for that.”

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Tuesday, October 29th:

Warriors News:

Steve Kerr discusses the Warriors’ point guard rotation in the absence of Steph Curry and De’Anthony Melton

Doctor explains Steph’s ankle injury, possible return timeline | NBC Sports Bay Area

“From my experience treating similar injuries .. if they have a very simple, kind of, strain to the tendon with no specific tears, it could be as simple as one-to-two weeks of heavy rehab and making sure they are comfortable, the mechanics are back and where they are supposed to be and the strength is 100 percent to get them back to play,” Oji stated.

“If there is a small tear or a more significant injury noted on imaging, then that can take a lot longer to heal and that could take up to several weeks and months.”

Steph Curry and the Warriors aren’t concerned with what could have been | ESPN

League sources also told ESPN that Kuminga’s name never seriously came up in talks of any significance between the Clippers and Warriors.

Should a trade for a star present itself before the deadline, the Warriors are expected to be in the mix. They have future first-round picks and swaps to deal, with just the 2030 top-20-protected first-round pick owed to Washington from the Jordan Poole deal. And they have Kuminga, Podziemski and Moody, along with the expiring contracts of Melton, Payton and Kevon Looney, among others.

“There’s a time to do that,” Kerr told ESPN. “We’re seeing teams around the league do that. But for us right now, unless it is one of those franchise-changing superstar players, imagine how reckless that could be. And Mike understands that and he’s handled it perfectly.”

Will Hardy made the Utah Jazz rewatch their ugly loss to the Warriors. These 3 things stood out | The Salt Lake Tribune

There was certainly a lot to discuss. Among the mishaps noted by Hardy and the team on Saturday: a stretch where noted sharpshooter Buddy Hield was allowed to take three consecutive wide-open threes, the way the team dealt with the Warriors‘ point-of-attack defense, and the entire third quarter — when the Jazz allowed the Warriors to score 38 points but somehow didn’t even commit a single foul while trying to stop them.

“We committed no fouls in the quarter. That’s almost impossible. Like, we didn’t bump into one person, we didn’t chop one person’s arm,” Hardy said. “Like, that’s really hard to do in a 12-minute stretch, especially when they score 38 points.”

Warriors will debut their new Classic Edition jerseys Tuesday night vs. Pelicans

NBA News

Utah Jazz’s Taylor Hendricks stretchered off the floor after breaking his leg | NBA

Utah forward Taylor Hendricks was wheeled off the floor on a stretcher with a right-leg injury after he landed awkwardly midway through the third quarter of the Jazz’s 110-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night.

The team said Hendricks fractured his right fibula and dislocated his ankle.

“He’s a great kid, and so we’re really just trying to focus on him — his health, keeping his spirits up, as he begins the road of his recovery,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “But these are the moments in sports that suck.”

Bulls tie franchise record for three-pointers in dramatic comeback win over Grizzlies | NBA

“I told you we’re gonna shoot ‘em,” added Ball with a laugh. “It’s a new brand of basketball for us, but it’s been good all year. Sometimes they fall and sometimes they don’t, but we at least have to keep taking them. We’ve got a lot guards, so we feel we should break a lot of teams down. I think we did a good job of that. Hopefully we don’t make it a routine getting down by 20, but it’s nice to know when you get down you can still get up and play.”

I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot of these shooting spasms this season, the Bulls suddenly not only one of the fastest teams in the NBA with a league leading pace, but one of the most prolific shooting teams with a second time in four games matching a team record making 25 three-pointers and again equalling the team most with 53 attempts.

Paolo Banchero scores 50 points, including 37 in the first half in Magic win vs. Pacers

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Warriors’ room for error grows smaller with Steph Curry operating in a small room

It also doesn’t help that Hield is a below-average operator as a pick-and-roll ball handler: 0.775 points per possession on pick-and-rolls with the Pacers and Sixers last season, albeit on a low number of possessions (167). But there’s a good reason behind that number being low. Asking Hield to be the pick-and-roll ball handler at any given moment isn’t a mere saunter out of his preferred role — it’s a huge step out of his comfort zone, especially when there’s a huge gap in defensive quality between their first two opponents and the Clippers (as evidenced by them sending two to the ball against Hield below and intercepting the expected pass to the short roll — ironically, something Hield himself pulled off against the Blazers

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.