For the first of what will likely be many times this NBA season, the Golden State Warriors have assigned rookie first-round pick Patrick Baldwin Jr. and rookie second-round pick Ryan Rollins to the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA G League, the team announced on Sunday following their 130-125 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Baldwin, 19, was drafted 28th overall by the Warriors in this year’s draft after he spent just one year at UW-Milwaukee. There, Baldwin only played in just 11 games before dealing with some injuries and sitting out the rest of the college season.
While he did not play in Summer League this offseason, Patrick Baldwin did play in all five of the team’s preseason games, averaging 7.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in about 14.4 minutes per game. So far, Baldwin has yet to play in one of the team’s first three games during the 2022-23 season.
Rollins, 20, was acquired by the Warriors during this year’s draft from the Atlanta Hawks with the 44th overall pick. A standout guard at Toledo, Rollins has played close to three minutes early on this season in “mop-up” duties for the Warriors and has collected his first career rebound and assist, both of which came against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 18, which was opening night in the NBA.
Both Baldwin and Rollins will move back-and-forth this season between Santa Cruz and Golden State, much like how other young talents on this team have been moved for developmental purposes through the years.
We saw the Warriors’ front-office do the same with James Wiseman, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga a season ago and prior to his breakout third season in the league last season, Jordan Poole was a key talent that the Warriors sent to the G League to mature and develop during the season.
Golden State is very high on both Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins, which is why they will ease them into action during their rookie seasons as they continue to grow and work on their craft with both the NBA and G League teams.
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