Getty Patrick Baldwin Jr. of the Golden State Warriors poses during the 2022 NBA Rookie Portraits event.
Golden State Warriors rookie Patrick Baldwin Jr. is three games into his first exhibition run as an NBA player and, so far, the returns have been incredibly encouraging. In just 10.7 minutes per contest, Baldwin has managed to average 8.3 points and 2.7 rebounds, while burning the nets at a 57.1% clip (and 58.3% from deep).
As a result, fans are already struggling to contain their excitement about the 19-year-old. For their part, though, Dubs coach Steve Kerr and franchise cornerstone Steph Curry are advising everyone to slow their roll.
“I couldn’t be happier or more excited about Patrick, but I also want to temper any expectations — especially in the early going — as far as what his impact will be on our club,” Kerr said of the rookie. Added Curry: “We’ve seen a lot of great things; it’s obviously still early.”
Indeed, for all the steps forward Baldwin looks to be taking during training camp, some backtracking is bound to occur once the Warriors start playing the games that actually matter. Thankfully, the first-round pick has people in the Bay to guide him, and not just those of the Steph-Kerr-Klay Thompson ilk, either.
Young Dubs Giving PBJ the Lay of the Land
Rook went to work in Japan 👏
The Warriors may be the defending champs and a team with an established veteran core (or, as Kerr calls it, a “foundational six”) but their roster also features a gaggle of up-and-coming players looking to make names for themselves.
After Monday’s practice, Baldwin noted that the latter group — in particular, second-year phenoms Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga — have been an invaluable resource as he attempts to find his footing in the Association.
“I think it’s pretty well documented in interviews about Moses, about how wise he is and how above his age he is,” Baldwin said. “So, he’s just a great guy to just bounce information off of and talk about his rookie season compared to how my rookie season is gonna be looking like. Just little tidbits that he can give to me and stuff that helped him get on the court faster.
“I think Mo and JK, just having played with them a little bit through the circuit and now being on the same team and it’s a championship-level team… I think just having those two guys kind of walk me through what their rookie season looked like will help me a lot.”
Baldwin’s Rookie Campaign Could Mirror Moody’s
As it happens, Baldwin’s situation is not dissimilar to the one that Moody faced as he entered the league last season.
Although Baldwin’s size should allow him to step into a stretch role on a situational basis, there’s definitely some positional crossover on the wings, where Moody found himself slotted behind the likes of Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and others in Kerr’s rotation. That logjam remains firmly in place this season, too.
The Warriors also have designs on giving Baldwin a soft launch in the G League, much as they did with Moody in 2021-22. As Moody’s rookie season wore on, he spent more and more time with the main club, averaging more than 17 minutes of action across 21 appearances in February and March.
If Baldwin can replicate that pattern — and the additional run isn’t a byproduct of widespread injuries or more experienced players underperforming — his rookie season would go down as a resounding success. As Kerr and Steph alluded to, though, expectations ought to be tempered.
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