Brandin Podziemski on Monday became the first Warrior to earn NBA All-Rookie First Team honors since Eric Paschall in 2020. Their previous three rookies to do so before Paschall were Harrison Barnes in 2013, Klay Thompson in 2012 and Steph Curry in 2010.
The Warriors also fell ever so close to having two All-Rookie selections for the first time since 1981. As in one vote shy.
Trayce Jackson-Davis received 42 points from voters. All 42 were to the second team, which each amount to one point. GG Jackson II of the Memphis Grizzlies received 33 votes to the second team, but also five first-team votes, giving Jackson 43 total points as the fifth and final member of the All-Rookie Second Team.
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“It makes me upset for him,” Podziemski told reporters Monday at Chase Center and over Zoom. “We’ve been through everything together.”
The Warriors found the steal of the draft in the second round, No. 57 overall, adding Jackson-Davis with the second-to-last overall pick. The 6-foot-9 center counted his accolades in his four-year career at Indiana, but his age at 23 years old (Jackson-Davis turned 24 in February) was a detriment for his draft stock in an age where the NBA values potential over production from prospects.
Jackson-Davis played in 68 games for the Warriors and averaged 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks as a rookie. The Grizzlies also got a gem out of Jackson in the second round at No. 45 overall. Jackson at 19 years old was the youngest player in the NBA and still averaged 14.6 points per game for the 27-win Grizzlies.
The two were in much different circumstances. Though Jackson-Davis played in 20 more games than Jackson, the Grizzlies forward averaged 9.1 more minutes per game than the Warriors’ big man – 25.7 compared to 16.6. Jackson put points on the board, including a 35-point game and 23-point game against the Warriors, but also shot 42.8 percent overall and 35.7 percent from three. Jackson-Davis on the other hand shot 70.2 percent from the field, and his per 36 minutes numbers would have had him at 17.2 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.
Golden State Warriors
Golden State went 9-2 to close the regular season with Jackson-Davis as its starting center. The Warriors in that span ranked seventh in offensive rating (116.6), fifth in defensive rating (108.6) and sixth in net rating (7.9).
“Just to see from a guard’s perspective his impact on our games and how he helped us win games this year, I think maybe the voters should take winning into more of an account,” Podziemski said Monday. “It sucks to see him not make it. I think he was well deserving of it.”
NBC Sports Bay Area spoke to Podziemski in late April, a conversation where he explained why he believes he should be part of the All-Rookie First Team, but also stated Jackson-Davis should at least make the second team.
“Trayce's emergence from where he came from to now is incredible,” Podziemski said to NBC Sports Bay Area. “So I think we should both be on there.”
As he watched the rest of the NBA pass him up 11 months ago, Jackson-Davis famously tweeted “Y’all will regret it… I promise you,” the night of the draft.
Podziemski, after the results for All-Rookie came out, sent his own message to social media that nobody will have to decipher.
“I know him, and I know he’s going to use it as a chip on his shoulder for next year,” Podziemski said. “And I think that’s just going to make him even better.”
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