Red Flags We Can't IgnorePatrick Baldwin's Scary Athletic Testing Numbers
Athletic testing numbers are normally only tiny data points that teams can overlook in a huge scouting equation. But in Patrick Baldwin Jr.'s case, his results were difficult to ignore.
His verticals were some of the lowest ever recorded at the NBA combine, and the heavy-footed centers usually finish last, not wings. It's difficult to measure explosiveness, but both the eye test and numbers say he has close to none.
In the last 12 NBA combines, these were the only other players to jump lower than or the same as Baldwin's 23.5-inch standing vertical (no running start, off two feet): Kyle Singler, Tacko Fall, Nikola Vucevic, Dakari Johnson, Jamel Artis, Nathan Knight, Kaleb Wesson and Orlando Robinson. The only players to jump lower or the same as Baldwin's 26.5-inch max vertical were Dedric Lawson, Fall, Johnson and Vucevic.
This year, Baldwin had the second-slowest lane agility time (lateral movement, changing directions, running backward) behind Trevion Williams, who weighs 264.4 pounds. Baldwin finished with the fourth-slowest sprint and the sixth-worst shuttle run.
The main concern with Baldwin is whether he'll be able to create any separation either off the dribble or at the rim. Though he played only 11 games and didn't have much supporting talent at Milwaukee, he shot just 50.0 percent at the basket (only 11 makes in half court) and 2-of-16 out of isolation. That was against mostly lower-level competition.
Scouts assume he's a better shooter than his 26.6 three-point percentage suggests. But if he doesn't have an advantage anywhere else, the bar will be super high when it comes to his shot-making effectiveness.
