Why Ryan Rollins Should Get More NBA Minutes
We’re approaching the end of the NBA G-League Showcase Cup this week, and with it concludes the first two months of action of G-League ball. While the season starts on December 27th officially, we’ve gotten some good looks at a number of Warriors prospects: James Wiseman and Patrick Baldwin Jr. have both had solid starts to their G-League stints, but probably the most consistent of the group has been Ryan Rollins.
Rollins, a rookie who came to the NBA after his second season of college hoops at Toledo, has not only been pretty good, but he’s shown a track of improvement since the beginning of December. He’s currently averaging 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assist on solid effiency, slashing 48% from the field, 36% from three, and 71% from the line over 10 G-League games so far. He’s built a rapport with Wiseman, and the two have played well together in their minutes in Santa Cruz.
Through the 4 games in December, however, he’s shown some serious improvement: He’s averaged 22 points per game, 6 boards and 7 assists on gaudy 50/44/90 splits. Obviously the sample size is a bit small, but he’s had some standout games in that stretch, including a triple-double against the South Bay Lakers and a 26-point performance against the Oklahoma City Blue two days later. It’s proving the Warriors may have found a hidden gem so late in the draft, should he be able to keep his production up.
Rollins and Wiseman have been called up, however, to play with the Warriors main squad while Stephen Curry’s out with an injury. But while Wiseman’s gotten some decent minutes so far, Rollins hasn’t seen much, if any, action. Despite the Warriors having a positional deficit at guard, Steve Kerr has opted for two-way player Ty Jerome to take over a lot of the backup point duties.
The question is… why?
Jerome’s been a little hit-or-miss. He’s averaging 5 points and 2 assists a game on 50/40/93 shooting, not bad at all for his 14ish minutes a game. He’s taken care of the ball well enough, but you can’t help get the feeling from watching him that there’s probably a better option somewhere.
What it seems to boil down to at this rate is experience: This is Jerome’s 4th season in the NBA after having played three years at Virginia. Kerr has always been a notable fan of guys who’ve played more years at the college level, and he’s certainly right that they tend to fit into the Warriors’ system the best.
There’s a problem with this, though. Rollins is a full contract player, while Jerome’s on a two-way, which means he has a limited amount of games he can play this season. The Warriors do have a 15th roster spot open, but giving it to Jerome instead of filling an actual positional need would be a bad idea. Rollins has shown he’s game-ready and has a lot of do-it-all moments on the floor: He’s been disruptive as a rebounder and defender (given his almost 6’10 wingspan at only 6’3), was a career scorer at Toledo (and has remained efficient), and improved his general guard play as a facilitator by a very solid margin.
His feel for the game is good, and while his decision-making could use some cleanup, it’s hard to sell why he shouldn’t be taking up at least some minutes in the rotation somewhere. While he plays the same position as Jerome, Anthony Lamb’s been a decent bit worse in more minutes, even after starting off the season on a high note with his playing time.
Kerr doesn’t even have to bench either one completely, but getting Rollins some minutes outside of just garbage time is absolutely worth doing, and those are two sources it would make the most sense to get those minutes from. Moses Moody had some phenomenal play late last season after coming off a G-League heater that was a few games shorter; banking on young guys who were scouted as league-ready in limited minutes is something which has proved to work with this team.
Ryan Rollins has made improvements in a short time in the G-League, and at this juncture in the season, the Warriors may want to investigate just what he can start to give them on both ends of the floor. He knows the system through playing in Santa Cruz, and while the NBA is obviously a whole new level, just watching his film can show he has the natural requisite feel to play in the flow of the “controlled chaos” offense Golden State likes to run. The team needs more depth, and until they can get a deal done to bring in some help (if that’s even in the cards), now is the time to see if there’s anything to pull from already here.
(Photo credit: Takashi Aoyama / Getty Images)