Rookies Jackson-Davis and Podziemski are called back by the Warriors following Draymond’s initial appearance on NBC Sports Bay Area.

The impact of Draymond Green?

One day after being reassigned to its G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, Golden State on Saturday recalled guard Brandin Podziemski and forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. This came after the veteran Warriors player highlighted the value of rookie energy on the road after Friday night’s victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

After Jackson-Davis was formally called back on Saturday afternoon, Podziemski was added to the roster in a different roster move that was made public a few hours later.

“I also think our young fellas not being here, Trayce and [Brandin Podziemski] and Lester [Quinones], the energy that they bring to this team — we missed that,” Green told reporters in Oklahoma City. “Next time we have an In-Season Tournament game, we need those guys here, because they bring a lot of juice for us.

“You always talk about young guys bringing energy. That’s their job. But we don’t have to tell those guys to bring energy. They do it every single day. I wasn’t overly shocked our energy wasn’t there because they are the guys that lift our energy level and they weren’t here.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr informed reporters before the game that both Jackson-Davis and Podziemski, who were reassigned to Santa Cruz on Friday, would benefit from more drill work and scrimmage time in G League training camp. Putting Green’s remarks aside, the Warriors’ victory on Friday night demonstrated that they could make use of both rookies.

While neither Jackson-Davis nor Podziemski have established themselves as mainstays in Kerr’s rotation just yet, they have both shown promise early in the season and undoubtedly offered an intangible spark off the bench. With the rookies back in the mix, the Warriors will regain some of that as well as size off the bench.

The Warriors defeated the considerably younger Thunder in the final seconds of play, but they’ll need some of that youthful vigor to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons. The Warriors are the third-oldest team in the NBA with an average age of 28.03 for the 2023–24 season, behind the Cavaliers and Pistons, who have average ages of 26.51 and 24.87 years, respectively.

When you take into account that the Warriors’ 30-and-up club will be playing a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday, bench depth will be even more crucial as the team tries to extend its winning streak.