It feels like it was just yesterday that Golden State was parading their way through downtown San Francisco but since then we’ve had the draft and tomorrow NBA summer league officially kicks off!
The Warriors will host the 4th annual California Classic which begins on Saturday, July 2 and concludes on Tuesday, July 5.
Golden State will start their weekend on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (pacific time) in what should be an excellent matchup against Keegan Murray and the Sacramento Kings.
The 2022 Draftees
The Warriors got busy on draft night, selecting three players including former five-star recruit Patrick Baldwin Jr who was ranked in ESPN’s 2021 Top 100. Baldwin played just 11 games last season at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He averaged 12.1 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting just 34.4% overall and 26.6% from deep.
The 6’10 forward had an underwhelming college career to say the least, but Baldwin’s talent is undeniable and for a team like the Warriors, he’s surely worth taking a swing on.
At pick 44, Golden State selected Ryan Rollins, a guard out of the University of Toledo who could be one of the steals of this year’s draft class. Rollins was a favorite among the later projected prospects by draft junkies’, including myself. Rollins is a do-it-all guard who thrives with the ball in his hands – he’s shown great promise as a pick and roll ball-handler both as a passer and as a scorer.
Rollins averaged 18.9 points, 6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game in his sophomore season at Toledo. He is a score first guard but I love his overall craftiness and feel for the game which leads me to believe he could develop into a good playmaker at the NBA level.
Unfortunately, Rollins is sidelined for the NBA summer league after the Warriors found a stress fracture in his right foot during a mandatory physical. A stress fracture doesn’t sound great, but Rollins didn’t seem too concerned by the injury,
“Actually, it hasn’t been bothering me… I think it’s just a precautionary thing, honestly, but it hasn’t been affecting me”, said Rollins.
With their third and final selection in the 2022 NBA draft, the Warriors picked Gui Santos, a 20-year old wing out of Brazil.
Santons averaged 10.5 points, 5 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season in Brazil. Santos has good size at 6’8 for an NBA forward and possesses better than adequate athleticism for an NBA player but he’s an inconsistent shooter and he’ll probably take some time to adjust to the NBA style of play.
Former Warriors guard and NBA champion Leandro Barbosa is currently a player mentor for Golden State and he’s actually been a mentor of Santos’ since he was 16 years old. Look for Santos to spend a year or two in Santa Cruz before having a legitimate shot at making the Warriors roster but he is an NBA talent.
The Returners
After having promising rookie seasons, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody will be right back at it in the 2022 NBA summer league. It hasn’t been explicitly stated that these two will play in the California Classic but considering they’re listed on the roster, I would imagine they play in at least one of their two games over the weekend.
Selfishly, I’d love to see them both play on Saturday against Keegan Murray, this year’s fourth overall pick in the draft. Both Moody and Kuminga had up and down performances last year throughout the summer league but now with a year under their belt in the league, they’re going to be expected to consistently perform at a high level in their appearances this year.
It’s doubtful that either of them will play for the entirety of the summer league but it’ll be exciting to see them both get minutes as more of the focal points on the floor compared to playing lesser roles alongside Golden State’s stars during the season.
Exciting news for Dub Nation, former number two overall pick James Wiseman is set to get some run throughout the summer league.
It hasn’t been confirmed Wiseman will play in the summer league but he’s on the roster and he’s been practicing with the summer league team, so all signs point to him getting back on the court in either the California Classic or in the Las Vegas Summer League, or both.
Wiseman talked to reporters following practice earlier this week and the big man seemed to be in great spirits and eager to get back out on the floor.
Saturday’s game against Sacramento and center Neemias Queta, who averaged 16.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 14 regular season G-League games last season, would be a fun first test back for Wiseman. But we’ll have to wait and see whether or not the big man is active this weekend.
Following the conclusion of the California Classic, the Warriors will head to Vegas where their first game will be on Friday, July 8 versus the New York Knicks at 5 p.m. on the west coast.
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