Brandon Williams arrives at Warriors camp with a glaring roster-fit problem: he shot 23.2% from three for Dallas last season. Golden State, meanwhile, attempted 44.1 threes per game in 2025-26. That meeting of a guard who struggled from long range and an offense taking so many threes makes the surrounding lineup particularly important.
The Warriors can value his ability to get downhill, but they cannot separate that skill from the defender who may be waiting near the lane.
Williams’ production gives Golden State something worth testing. He averaged 13.0 points and 3.9 assists in 22.2 minutes across 66 games, shooting 47.2% overall and 79.3% from the free-throw line. He also recorded 256 assists against 125 turnovers.
The Chronicle’s camp report identifies his driving speed as a central part of the appeal, alongside the challenge posed by his small defensive size. That is a useful bench profile, provided the surrounding lineup lets the advantage appear.
The cleanest offensive assignment is to give Williams stretches in which he can initiate against a second unit. A guard with enough burst to reach the paint can create more than his own finish: a drawn foul, a rotation and a pass to the next shooter.
His 3.9 assists per game suggest he is capable of making that pass, while his 1.9 turnovers show the ordinary cost of putting the ball in a creator’s hands. The question is whether those decisions arrive quickly enough to keep the defense from recovering.
That is where the jumper complicates everything. Williams made 36 of 155 threes in Dallas. If a defender goes under a screen or parks closer to the lane, the drive begins with less room to operate.
Golden State shot 35.6% from three last season while attempting 44.1 per game. A lineup that needs another threat outside may not be the best setting for Williams, even if it could use another player capable of penetrating.
The answer is not to demand that Williams become a different player overnight. It is to place him with enough shooting and movement that opponents cannot treat his defender as a permanent helper. A bench group with reliable perimeter threats and a forward who keeps the ball moving could give him wider driving lanes.
A unit already short on shooting would force Williams to solve the problem created by his own coverage, a difficult assignment for any guard.
Brandin Podziemski is the obvious piece in that fit discussion because he is returning to Golden State with a steadier perimeter profile. Podziemski averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists over all 82 games, shooting 37.1% from three.
His 419 rebounds compared with Williams’ 191 also offer more work on the glass, though those totals cannot establish how either player will handle a particular defensive matchup.