The San Antonio Spurs have gone streaking a bit and so have moved down in the draft predictions. A player they can likely select with a lower pick is Patrick Baldwin Jr.
He is supposed to be a top-10 draft prospect in the upcoming 2022 NBA Draft. While he might still get there, he’s had some uneven performances so far this season and has some major red flags to clear up before the draft. This has made watching him a bit of a rollercoaster experience.
The 6-foot-9, 220-pound has gotten some comparisons to Michael Porter Jr. and Michael Beasley. He has a smooth game and is a modern stretch-4 who can space out defenses with his shooting and driving. However, it’s not all roses for Baldwin as you will find out. Here are his stats so far through the season.
- 15.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.9 BPG
- 36.8 FG%, 32.6 3P%, 76.9 FT%
- 18.5 PER, 95.9 ORtg, 101.2 DRtg
While Baldwin has been shooting the three well, he has struggled to get to the rim and finish there as well. His effort on offense in a few games has been disappointing as he’s just stood around and hasn’t been as aggressive as he needs to be with this team. His effort on defense has been subpar as well and there are times when he looks completely disinterested.
It’s easy to say that there are all of these issues, but he also does quite a few things incredibly well. He can post smaller players and he obviously hits threes at a good rate. For this Milwaukee team, he does a lot of the heavy lifting on offense.
Baldwin has to be more consistent in his effort on both ends of the floor, but if he puts that together he could honestly be a steal at pick seven or later. He likely can’t carry an NBA team on offense, but he could be an excellent second or third option.
