THOMPSON: BALDWIN JR. `HAS STAR POTENTIAL'
Warriors coach Steve Kerr originally expected Draymond Green to suit up on Friday night, but when Green was ruled out with a bruised knee an hour before gametime, he knew who would take those minutes.
Patrick Baldwin Jr. “was automatically elevated into the rotation,” Kerr said.
Baldwin once again stepped in for an injured player and made it look easy as he contributed 11 points, three rebounds and an assist in 16 minutes of a 116-101 win over the Rockets at Chase Center.
Green is expected to return to the Warriors lineup on Sunday afternoon against the Timberwolves, but Baldwin has continued to impress when called upon during a rookie season in which he has shuttled between the NBA and the Warriors' G League team in Santa Cruz.
From Jan. 20 until Feb. 14, Baldwin went 11 games without seeing the floor. But the 20-yearold has been back in action the last three games. He has scored 11 points in the last two.
“He's confident,” said teammate Donta DiVincenzo. “It's not easy to do, especially when you're not playing consistently, you're not playing with normal people you're playing with, you're going back and forth to the G League. It's hard.”
Friday night, the Warriors knocked down 26 3-pointers, one shy of tying a franchise record. Baldwin had three of them.
It's hard to ignore the numbers, albeit in a small sample size: After going 3-for-5 from 3-point range on Friday, he's 28-for-59 (48%), tied with the Nets' Yuta Watanabe for the best 3-point percentage in the NBA of anybody with at least 50 attempts this season.
It might be early to make judgments off just 18 NBA games, but Thompson has seen enough to declare the Warriors “got a steal,” with Baldwin, the No. 28 overall selection in the NBA Draft last year.
“He comes in and he's probably shooting 45% from 3,” said Thompson, who knocked down 12 3-pointers in a 42-point performance. “He's just oozing with potential. Beautiful, beautiful shot. Perfect form. At that height, he's a prototypical main player and he's got star potential so I love his humility about his work ethic. And it's just exciting times. He's a great prospect.”
Few knew what to expect when the Warriors drafted Baldwin. An ankle injury limited him to only 11 games at the collegiate level while suiting up for his dad, Patrick Baldwin Sr., at the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin in 2020-21.
He has spent much of the season in Santa Cruz with the G League team, but has fit in naturally whenever he gets the call to the big club.
“He's super mature,” said guard Ty Jerome. “For a guy his age, every time he's up here with us, he never knows when he's going to come play but you know what you're going to get from him. It's super impressive for a rookie.”
A 6-foot-9 wing player who can float around the perimeter or take up space in the paint, Baldwin is giving the Warriors a lot to think about. Kerr said he sees him playing the three or four position rather than the five, and he could see him on the floor at the same time as Green and Kevon Looney “because the way he shoots the ball, he really spaces the floor for us.”
Asked before Friday's game to project Baldwin's role going forward, Kerr said, “When I watch Patrick, I see a future rotation player.”
The coach compared the vertical extension of Baldwin's shot to those of Michael Porter Jr. and Kevin Durant, saying “with that kind of release, you can't challenge it. So he has that kind of extension and size and shooting ability.”
“He's learning,” Kerr said. “He's a really good prospect. It's really exciting watching him play because the game clicks when he's out there. The ball moves. He has a good feel for the game. His dad is a coach and he gets it. He understands it.”
Baldwin was humble when asked about his development on the Warriors' postgame show on NBC Sports Bay Area.
“I already have a skill that I established and that's productive,” he said of his 3-point shooting. “But just building an all-around the game, in the paint, defensively, being a three-level scorer, being a good play connector — that's what we need.
“Whatever I can do to help impact winning and get better with that, that's what will help me go forward.”