Patrick Baldwin Jr. hasn’t played much with the Golden State Warriors this season, but the 28th pick is staying ready for the opportunity to play, which, this week, suddenly came out of nowhere.
Baldwin woke up on Wednesday and drove to Santa Cruz to practice with the Warriors’ G League affiliate. Moments after the session wrapped up, Baldwin and fellow rookie Ryan Rollins were summoned to join the team back in San Fransisco in the aftermath of Donte DiVincenzo and Draymond Green being listed as questionable to play versus Utah.
The two rookies arrived about one hour prior to the tip, and immediately got ready.
Though DiVincenzo and Green each played, Baldwin was called into action with Jonathan Kuminga dealing with foul trouble. He responded by recording 11 points and three rebounds on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range off the bench in the 112-107 win.
“It is pretty impressive for them to be going back and forth and then for Patrick to come in and play the way he did,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It is exciting. He has got a lot of skill and isn’t afraid.”
Said Baldwin afterward: “It has been a crazy last four hours.”
Cool to see Patrick Baldwin Jr get real minutes vs Utah last night & thrive in his 12 and a half minutes. He went 4-7 including a steal and 3-5 from 3
The Warriors have a solid amount of young depth on their roster that they can plug in at any time #DubNation pic.twitter.com/LV6wgWOV4I
— Mavs/Magic Draft (@MavsDraft) December 29, 2022
After helping the Warriors to the win, Baldwin, along with Rollins, returned to Santa Cruz on Thursday and suited up in their matchup versus the Stockton Kings. He had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the 121-112 loss. Rollins had 15 points, three rebounds and two assists.
The hectic schedule of going back and forth is such the life of a rookie out of the rotation. Teams often need those end-of-bench players to be ready and it can often decide the outcome of a game.
Baldwin knew his teammates needed him and was ready to step in.
“When you check in the game and Draymond is telling you to let it fly, you let it fly,” Baldwin said. “So, it is just great confidence and you just gotta stay ready.”
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