All Rollins has to do is improve his 3 pt shooting and focus more on
defense (which I think will be easy to accomplish) to be another
patented Warriors late round draft pick steal. -AL

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How Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins fit into the Warriors’ future core
Warriors 2022 draft picks Patrick Baldwin Jr., Ryan Rollins could be on
15-man roster next season
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 24: The Golden State Warriors
presented their 2022 NBA Draft Picks Gui Santos, from left, Patrick
Baldwin Jr., and Ryan Rollins during a press conference at the Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, June 24, 2022. Patrick
Baldwin Jr. with the 28th overall pick, Gui Santos with the 55th overall
pick and Ryan Rollins, the 44th overall selection in the second round.
(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 24: The Golden State Warriors
presented their 2022 NBA Draft Picks Gui Santos, from left, Patrick
Baldwin Jr., and Ryan Rollins during a press conference at the Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, June 24, 2022. Patrick
Baldwin Jr. with the 28th overall pick, Gui Santos with the 55th overall
pick and Ryan Rollins, the 44th overall selection in the second round.
(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: June 25, 2022 at 6:30 a.m. | UPDATED: June 25, 2022 at 8:34 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/25/how-patrick-baldwin-jr-and-ryan-rollins-fit-into-the-warriors-future/

SAN FRANCISCO — A Hall of Fame core entering its mid-30s brought the
Warriors another NBA title, but the Golden State roster also features a
growing contingent of young players who will seek to stretch the team’s
reign over the league.

On Friday, the Warriors introduced their newest draftees with some
questions surrounding how they’ll juggle their young talent within this
wide-open contention window.

Their top two picks, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins, are 19 years
old, and late second-rounder Gui Santos is 20. Along with Jonathan
Kuminga (19), Moses Moody (20) and James Wiseman (21), the Warriors are
brimming with young talent with few roster spots to house them.

Where do the three new guys fit into this crucial time frame? In the big
picture, a pathway to regular minutes in the rotation is there — Kuminga
and Moody played important minutes during this title run — but the road
may differ for each player. In this draft, Golden State took swings on
high-upside players with some time and resources to develop and shape them.

Expect Baldwin to see plenty of time with the Santa Cruz Warriors,
Golden State’s G-League affiliate that helped develop Jordan Poole and
Moody. Rollins is likely to get lots of run in Santa Cruz, too.

“We didn’t draft players who are at the forefront of everybody’s mind in
terms of watching college basketball,” president of basketball
operations Bob Myers said on Thursday. “We invested a lot in our player
development and we believe we can take talent and cultivate it.”

Baldwin, Myers said, is “one of those guys” the Warriors are excited to
get their hands on. He may not have an immediate impact on the team, but
he has the upside that the development staff hopes to bring out.

Standing 6-foot-9 with the ability to shoot from 3, Baldwin could
project to be anywhere from a tall guard to a stretch big. But what
stands out most with Baldwin is his IQ — Myers noted it was obvious
Baldwin is the son of a basketball coach. With strong passing ability
and feel, Baldwin could become a big point forward with playmaking
abilities similar to Otto Porter Jr. and Kevon Looney in the vein of
some of the NBA’s elite point forwards in Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green.

The Warriors have a long list of players that thrive off point forwards
who can help create for them — Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson,
Moody and Kuminga, for starters.

But still unknown is whether Baldwin can reach his physical and athletic
upside — something that went missing after his injuries.

The 19-year-old was a five-star recruit out of Hamilton High School
outside Milwaukee — the top shooting forward recruit in the country out
of the class of 2021. But he injured his ankle and calf during his
senior year and turned down offers from Duke, North Carolina and
Kentucky to play for his dad at mid-major University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

He played a dismal 11 games with the Panthers in a season shortened by
an ankle injury. His draft stock plummeted, opening the door for the
Warriors to use their No. 28 pick on him as a low-risk, high-reward
opportunity. Myers said Baldwin was much higher than 28 on their big
board; plenty of people in the front office were big Baldwin fans.

But Baldwin is still not 100% healthy. He told the Warriors before the
draft he “never really got it back” in college and felt he could have
had a better season fully healthy.

“We believe that too, or we wouldn’t have drafted him,” Myers said.

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The next step for Baldwin would be a run at Summer League in a few days.
His ankle injury may still limit him there.

“I believe I should be able to play in Summer League, I want to play in
Summer League first and foremost but I’ve just got to make sure
everything’s tuned up, everything’s healthy,” he said on Friday. “But I
think I’m about 95% right now. And that last 5% is coming up close. I
believe I’m right there, right on the cusp, and just got to tune up some
stuff and make sure I’m 100% going to Summer League.”

Rollins is a 6-foot-3 guard with a 6-foot-10 wingspan — measurements
that scream high defensive upside, and might explain why the Warriors
spent $2 million to trade up seven spots to get him.

The Toledo product who turns 20 on July 3 said Friday he mirrors his
game after Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, but with some added strength he
could have shades of Jrue Holiday in him. That’s valuable if Rollins
plays next to Poole in the backcourt.

Rollins is also a strong shot creator, mostly in the mid-range. He shot
31% from 3 in college, but after some analysis of his shooting form, the
Warriors think some added strength in his legs can improve his shot.

The Warriors have nine free agents this offseason and will likely have
some roster spots available. Both Baldwin and Rollins are expected to be
added to the 15-man roster. And though most of their time will be spent
with the development team under guru Jama Mahlalela’s guidance, the
pathway to the NBA squad is there.

--
Shayna Rubin | Oakland Athletics reporter