Blazers and Baldwin are a match made in seven (games)

Wade Baldwin IV played in seven games last season for the Blazers. And he just finished playing in seven NBA Summer League games. Look for his role to increase in 2018-2019.

We like Wade Baldwin IV here at the RCP. Just look how much we gushed over him when we wrote a few tidbits about the Blazers on Wednesday.

"Baldwin, who averaged 7.4 assists per game in Vegas, is an asset for the Blazers moving forward. He’s a tenacious defender with a wingspan for days, and he’ll bring both grit and a winning disposition-slash-determination to the team."

Those 7.4 assists per game were good enough for second-best in the NBA Summer League. Baldwin also tied for the Blazers’ lead in scoring with Jake Layman at 13.4 points per game.

More importantly, he often looked like the best player on the court as he led Portland to a 7-0 record and the Summer League championship.

More from Rip City Project

Finally, the NBA named Baldwin to its All-Summer League Second Team.

Blazers and Baldwin

Seven must be WBIV’s lucky number — at least as far as the Blazers are concerned. In those seven Summer League games plus the seven regular season games he played at the end of the 2017-2018 season, Baldwin must have displayed to the Trail Blazers’ brass that he was worth keeping around.

You wouldn’t have known it, though. There was no talk emanating from the Portland front office about whether or not the team planned to allow the July 18 deadline to pass, guaranteeing Baldwin’s contract for the upcoming season. (Baldwin will make about $1.5 million in 2018-2019.)

But since the team waived Georgios Papagiannis before the deadline but made no mention of Baldwin, it was pretty much a lock that WBIV would be wearing the pinwheel logo for at least one more season.

Transactions

Baldwin, out of Vanderbilt, was originally drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-4, 202-pound guard didn’t make much of an impact at first. He spent much of his rookie season bouncing between Memphis and the Iowa Energy of the G League.

WBIV played just 33 NBA games in 2016-2017 (averaging 3.2 points per game) before being unceremoniously dumped by the Grizzlies in October 2017. Two days later, the Blazers snagged him.

Portland recalled Baldwin from the G League this past January. The franchise then signed him in March for the remainder of the season.

Next: Swanigan showed off new facets of game in Summer League

Since that time, he’s established himself as a potential fan favorite — especially since, in April, he frustrated the Rockets’ Chris Paul and James Harden with his in-your-face defense.

That kind of tenacity against a Western Conference foe is exactly what the Blazers and Rip City will be expecting more of from Baldwin next season. And now that his contract is guaranteed, he can focus on what matters: ballin’.