The Warriors have found something early this season that doesn’t look like the usual NBA script.
It isn’t built around the oldest names on the roster, and it isn’t leaning solely on Stephen Curry to drag everything uphill. Instead, Golden State’s most destructive three-man unit through the opening week of the 2026-27 season has been Yaxel Lendeborg, Brandin Podziemski, and Gui Santos.
That trio has logged just 31 minutes together, but the numbers are loud: a league-best plus-69 net rating, powered by a 144 offensive rating and a 75 defensive rating per 100 possessions. They’re assisting on two-thirds of their field goals, piling up nearly two assists for every turnover, crashing the glass, and scoring from all over the floor while also getting to the line.
For a Warriors team that is a full year older than the next oldest team in the league, the energy that trio brings is less about youth than it is about oxygen.
That came through Monday night in Denver, where the Warriors went into Ball Arena and beat Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets, 134-114. The final margin was 20, and the game played that way.
It wasn’t a fluky shooting night or a soft spot in the schedule. Golden State controlled the game with a style that was physical, connected, and relentlessly aggressive. Lendeborg, Podziemski, and Santos each brought a little bit of everything, and they brought it with force.
Lendeborg is the headliner right now, and for good reason. Through his first four career games, the 24-year-old rookie is averaging 21.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while getting to the line almost eight times per night. In Denver, he put up 31 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists, going 12-of-13 at the stripe and finishing a staggering plus-27.
Steve Kerr didn’t hold back after the win.
“In all the critical spots, we put the ball in his hands,” Steve Kerr said after the win. “For a rookie to be that advanced already is extremely rare. … He’s going to be a guy who closes games.”
Kerr added, “He’s strong as an ox and skilled, and the way the game is played, he’s gonna be able to get to the [free-throw] line a ton,” Kerr said. “You saw it tonight. … If the other team goes on a run, you go to a guy like Yax or Jimmy [Butler], they get fouled, the game slows down and you set your defense.”
Podziemski has been just as important, even if Lendeborg is grabbing more of the spotlight. In two games, he’s averaging 18 points on 15 shots a night, exactly the kind of offensive jump Golden State needed after locking him up long term. Against Denver, he added 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, finishing as the game’s best plus-minus at plus-33.
Kerr pointed to the fit between the two.
“Brandin really knows how to play,” Kerr said. “He knows how to get people the ball. When you have both [him and Lendeborg] on the floor, there’s just a lot that can happen in order to attack the defense.”
Then there’s Santos, who has quietly become the glue piece. On Monday, he scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 28 minutes and ended at plus-18. He’s finding gaps, attacking the offensive glass, and showing more confidence creating his own shot.
The larger picture is even more interesting because Curry and Draymond Green were both excellent in their own right. Curry was perfect from the floor, finishing with 24 points on 8-of-8 shooting. Green had seven assists and ran the offense while helping anchor the defense.
Still, the night belonged to the young trio.
With Lendeborg, Podziemski, and Santos, the Warriors have a modern, switchable 2-3-4 group that plays with force and doesn’t wait around. It won’t look this clean every night.
Denver was a favorable matchup. But when it clicks, the impact is obvious.
Golden State may have stumbled into a very different kind of “big 3,” and right now, it’s making the league’s best early-season lineup look dangerous.
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For Spartans followers, Velling is one of those players who naturally triggers the what-might-have-been conversation. His college stint offered flashes without fully settling into the kind of breakout run that changes a programs view of a player, and now his next stop will say plenty about whether there is still untapped NFL value waiting to be found. [Read more 🡒]