When Warriors general manager Bob Myers said earlier this week that money wouldn’t be an issue for his team during the 2022 NBA draft, he wasn’t lying.
He proved it when the Warriors selected Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s long and sharp winger Patrick Baldwin Jr. with the 28th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft.
It’s just another pick – another draft – where the Warriors backed up their high-profile organizational talk with big money.
We live in the richest metropolitan area in the United States. This is one of the richest places in the world.
Yet the Giants don’t spend like a team with a big market, the 49ers are obsessed with meeting the salary cap, and when it comes to spending, A’s are the biggest joke in all of pro sports, and the Earthquakes are also owned by John Fisher – follow suit.
(The Sharks play in a league with a ridiculously low salary cap)
The Warriors have become the only team that truly represents the Bay, not only because of their success on the court, but also because of their attitude to the front office.
Warriors are maximalists to the core. They spend a lot and earn even more. The property never seems satisfied. Dynasty? No, they want to be an empire.
Some UWM wing is not the player to take the Warriors to the top anytime soon. We have no idea if he can even play in the NBA.
But the Warriors’ selection of Baldwin — and then their $2 million purchase of the 41st round second-round pick that was used to select Toledo point guard Ryan Rollins — was a reminder that this possession is not meant to be a big profit. they are in it to win now and in the future.
Whatever it costs, it will be paid.
I don’t expect Baldwin to play a big role with the Warriors this coming season, and that’s what says the most about this choice.
He is a project. A worthy project, but a project nonetheless.
So we’ll see him – probably the same way we saw Moses Moody last season, meaning playing time will be sporadic.
In the meantime, the Dubs will play him his rookie salary and then pay the rest of the NBA about $6 for every dollar they pay Baldwin.
The luxury tax situation for the Warriors is so significant — there are circumstances in which the Dubs should have a payroll of more than $400 million this coming season if key players are re-signed — that there have been rumors around the league that ” Golden State, just lay out your first-round pick this season to save money.
With Jonathan Cuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman, the Warriors have enough young players, right?
The alternative is that they could use this late pick in the first round to win now – a player with a high level, but perhaps not much upside potential.
Instead, the Warriors will pay a total of more than $10 million next year just for the right to start the long game with Baldwin, who could have been in the top 10 (if not the top 5) had he been in last year’s draft. , but who saw his stock plummet after playing an injured season for his father in Milwaukee.
Baldwin has an incredible combination of size and jumper, giving Klay Thompson the chance to be the prettiest on the Dubs. If this has a serious impact on the NBA level, then such a player could ideally complement the young, promising future of this team. This is a player who can become a star.
Of course, he is selected 28th overall and he definitely lacks NBA-level athleticism, which puts him into question both on defense and as a shotmaker.
This is a big bet.
But it can pay off huge.
That’s how we do things in the bay.