Rookie Fit Preview: Can Warriors' Trio Break Into Strong Rotation?
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Fresh off of another NBA Finals win, the Golden State Warriors added three more rookies to their ranks in July.
While all hold some sort of talent, it could be break into a championship-level rotation.
The Rookie Class
Patrick Baldwin Jr. (Forward | No. 28 Overall)
Baldwin Jr. was a highly touted recruit out of high school who saw an extremely shaky season at Milwaukee. His frame and perimeter scoring ability made him one of the most intriguing prospects out of high school.
Ryan Rollins (Guard | No. 44 Overall)
A smaller spark-plug scorer with a knack for seeing the ball through the hoop, Rollins is a shifty and creative player. While he’s a premier scorer, he grabs an inordinate amount of rebounds for his size.
Gui Santos (Forward | No. 55 Overall)
An athletic, nicely-framed wing with solid passing chops and a nice overall game. He lacks in a few key areas such as consistency shooting and handle, but isn’t far off from being a productive player.
Roles and Opportunities
Last season, the Warriors won their fourth title in eight years, have look to have no intentions of slowing down in the 2022-23 season.
Headlined by potentially the best top to bottom starting five in the league, the Warriors will again be a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney will likely again make the starting rotation, leaving Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman, Donte DiVencenzo, Moses Moody and even more talented players relegated to the bench unit.
In short, it’s going to be hard to any of the three rookies to break into valuable minutes, but that’s likely exactly what the Warriors anticipated when drafting them.
Projections
All three rookies are likely best served spending their time in the G League and in less-than-valuable minutes at the end of NBA games, similar to what Kuminga and Moody did last season.
Baldwin Jr. is the project to end all projects, exactly the type of player that Golden State has time to sit back and develop, just not the type that will help them in the shorter.
With a solid shooting form and the frame to match, there’s a chance, with some consistency, Baldwin can morph into a premier NBA player. And who better to take that risk than Golden State.
If any of the rookie trio has a chance to get on-court for real minutes this season it’s Rollins, who flashed sheer brilliance in his time with Toledo. He’ll likely fill a role for Golden State in the short term, but the same can be said of Jordan Poole, who has broken into much more as of late.
Gui Santos is, again, unlikely to crack any rotation this year, but could fill a role miles down the road for the Warriors, who are content to sit back and develop complete draft classes while still competing for titles.
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