Captain Klay has a couple of new sailors to break into the crew.
As has become an annual tradition, the Warriors rookie class toured the Bay Area on Thursday and got a taste of the waters that Klay Thompson loves to navigate. Draft picks Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis got a chance to drive a boat to Alcatraz and see other classic Bay Area landmarks.
Shayna Rubin of the Bay Area News Group hopped on the boat and the tour to Alcatraz, while also talking with the two rookies about their acclimation process. It sounds like Podziemski and Jackson-Davis had a great chance to get to know their new teammates recently, as they said that Steph Curry organized a team mini-camp in Los Angeles in late August.
“Just a great thing by our vets to set that up and team bonding off the court which was really helpful for guys like me and Trayce,” Podziemski told Rubin. “Went out to a couple dinners, walked around. It was more of a get to know each other on a level where basketball wasn’t involved. Obviously we played basketball as a group, but it was good to finally get to meet people. For all the new guys, it was super helpful.”
We’ve seen videos of players like Steph, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga doing individual workouts throughout the summer, but this sounds like more than just getting run in a gym. According to Rubin, almost every Warriors player took part in the camp except for free-agent Dario Šarić, who is busy representing Croatia in the FIBA World Cup in Asia.
Last year’s chemistry was knocked all out of whack when Draymond punched Jordan Poole in a preseason practice and the video subsequently went viral on social media. Now that Poole is gone and that black cloud seems to have moved on from the organization, it’s a new opportunity for Steph to bring back the trademark joy to the franchise that had been a staple throughout the team’s dynasty run the past few years.
Podziemski, the No. 19 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft out of Santa Clara, and Jackson-Davis, the No. 57 pick out of Indiana, are longshots to make any serious dent in the rotation this season, but at least the young bucks are getting a warm welcome from the Warriors’ veteran-laden roster.
