When you have the 28th choice in the Draft, you have to take the best player available or make a bet to succeed in a “steal”. It is often this second option that the Warriors choose, and they have had a good nose for a few years. Recall that Draymond Green is a second round of Draft, that Jordan Poole had been selected in 28th position and that Kevon Looney for his part was chosen in 30th position.
This year, with their 28th pick, the Warriors opted for Patrick Baldwin Jr., a 2m07 winger. In high school, he was a star but his “freshman” season in Milwaukee-Wisconsin was marred by an ankle injury.
After missing the Summer Leagues, he is obviously under pressure this pre-season, and he seized his chance in Japan, with 19 points at 5/8 from 3-pointers in two games. In the second set, played on Sunday, it was he who revived the Warriors in the 4th quarter when they were trailing by 16 points.
” He was great”, summarizes Steve Kerr. “He is a very good basketball player. He understands the game. You can see it with his fluidity, his movements, his shots, his passes. He made a great pass in transition. He understands everything in a simple way and he has a very good feeling. He’s a player who barely played in college because of his injury, but he was a highly rated rookie coming out of high school and you can see why. He’s tall, he has a good feel for the game, good touch on the ball, so he’s really interesting to see. »
As Patrick Baldwin Jr. had only played eleven matches last year, and that he did not participate in the Summer Leagues, Steve Kerr did not expect much from the 19-year-old player in the immediate future. It was a real gamble.
” I didn’t really know what to expect, although by the end of the summer all the coaches who worked with him when I was out of town were raving about him.”, continues Steve Kerr. ” They groomed me and told me this guy had a really good feeling and would be a good fit for us, but this last week is really my first chance to see him play. And I’m very impressed. »
Ten days ago, Bob Myers explained that his rookie would probably spend most of the season in the G-League. ” From our point of view, it will not help us right away, but it is important for our future“. Maybe he will change his mind even if Patrick Baldwin Jr has competition in his position with Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga or even JaMychal Green.
