Brandin Podziemski's performance at NBA combine could make him a first-round draft pick
CHICAGO - Brandin Podziemski checked off everything he wanted to accomplish this week at the NBA draft combine.
The 2021 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball from St. John's Northwestern Academies was among the biggest stock-boosters at Wintrust Arena, along with Marquette's Olivier-Maxence Prosper. There is some real buzz that Podziemski could be scooped up by an NBA team in the first round of the draft on June 22.
"It's been fun," Podziemski said on Thursday. "I don't want it to end. It's been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.
"I'm just enjoying the process and taking it all in."
Brandin Podziemski is a 'hooper that can shoot and not a shooter that can hoop'
Podziemski, who measured just shy of 6 feet and 4 inches without shoes, already has a reputation as being one of the best shooting prospects, and he confirmed that earlier in the week in the drills. Podziemski spent six weeks preparing for the combine with former MU sharpshooter Travis Diener.
What NBA front-office personnel weren't expecting was the 39-inch running vertical leap that Podziemski unleashed.
"I'm kind of confused when people are like, 'He's not that athletic, he doesn't always dunk on people,'" he said. "I think when I need to use my athleticism, I use it. I think I am a NBA athlete."
After the athletic testing, Podziemski wanted to display his playmaking chops. He did that by posting a near-triple double with 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in 22 minutes during a 5-on-5 scrimmage Wednesday.
"I just wanted to show them that I'm a point guard," Podziemski said. "I'm a hooper that can shoot and not a shooter that can hoop.
"I value myself as a point guard at the next level. Just continue to do the intangible stuff that I've always been doing. Everybody knows I can score and shoot the ball."
Podziemski could have rested on that performance and not played in the second scrimmages Thursday. Prosper opted to sit out after his own standout performance Wednesday. But Podziemski didn't even consider it, though he only took four shots and handed two assists as other prospects took turns as on-ball creators.
"I think I'm a competitor," Podziemski said. "If I'm healthy enough to be out there, I want to play.
"Just because you never know how long you can play this game. I just wanted to go out there and play. Obviously I didn't play as well as yesterday. I think my role was a little bit different today. Maybe the minutes were different. That's OK, we got the win and that's all that matters."
Podziemski intrigues NBA teams
Podziemski said he met with 10-15 NBA teams this week. There will be more workouts in the coming weeks, including a pro day with his agency in California.
"They say I'm ready to play," said Podziemski, who announced on Friday that he was staying in the draft. "They love me, they love the things I bring besides scoring. The intangible stuff that doesn't show up in the box score.
"It's all been great feedback that I've been happy with."
It has been a rapid ascent for a player who didn't play much as a freshman at Illinois and then transferred to Santa Clara last season. Podziemski put himself on the radar of NBA scouts with the Broncos.
"It's all about opportunity and fit at the right time," he said. "A lot of mid-major guys here (at the combine), surprisingly. I think that's more frequent nowadays.
"It really doesn't matter the school. It's about the talent level and if you can play at that next level."
A player with Wisconsin ties has been picked in every first round since 2019: Tyler Herro and Jordan Poole in 2019, Tyrese Haliburton in 2020, Jalen Johnson in 2021 and both Johnny Davis and Patrick Baldwin Jr. last season.
Could Podziemski be next?
"I think Wisconsin is an underrated state as it is," Podziemski said. "We definitely have at least 8-10 guys in the NBA right now from the state of Wisconsin and it's a small-market state.
"All those guys are super hard-workers. I think we all share that work-ethic trait."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Santa Clara's Brandin Podziemski boosts his NBA draft stock at combine
