Warriors bringing former lottery pick to training camp

The Golden State Warriors traditionally love taking flyers on athletic prospects from big college basketball programs. That continued this week with the news that they signed the No. 13 pick from the 2018 Draft, Jerome Robinson, to a training camp contract. That news came courtesy of, who else, NFL insider Adam Schefter.

Woj and Shams, you are officially on notice: Schefter is coming for your corner.

While Robinson does have the size and athleticism of an NFL receiver, this is an NBA contract, as the Warriors are bringing in Robinson as a training camp body and a potential candidate for their 15th roster spot. That’s assuming that Andre Iguodala eventually announces his return, and that the highly-taxed Warriors actually fill all 15 positions on their roster.

Robinson was selected 13th in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, after they traded up for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Charlotte took Miles Bridges. Jerry West reportedly loved Robinson at Boston College, where Robinson averaged 20.7 points and shot over 40% from three-point range his junior year, playing alongside Warriors legend Ky Bowman. He was part of the All-ACC team and arguably the best player in the conference besides Marvin Bagley.

But Robinson only played 33 games his rookie year due to injuries and an extreme change of direction by the Clippers franchise. They traded for fellow rookie shooting guard Landry Shamet at the deadline, and the next summer, they added Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, along with second-rounder shooting guard Terance Mann. Suddenly the Clippers had a logjam in the backcourt and a win-now attitude - and no playing time to spare for Robinson, who found himself behind a bunch of veterans and two other young guards.

Robinson was traded to Washington, essentially as ballast in the Clippers’ trade for Marcus Morris. He didn’t get much playing time there either, behind Bradley Beal and Troy Brown Jr., and was waived in 2021 after playing just 38 games for the Wizards. Who was he dropped for? Warriors legend Jordan Bell.

I bet Adam Schefter doesn’t know anything about Jordan Bell.

The Santa Cruz Warriors picked up Robinson in January of this year, and he put up numbers during the Sea Dubs late push to the playoffs. Robinson scored 20.2 points per game in 22 games, though he never quite recaptured his three-point stroke from college, hitting only 32.5% of his triples. He’ll essentially be competing with two-way guards Quindarry Weatherspoon and Lester Quinones, plus fellow training camp invite Mac McClung. He’s a longshot, but if he can start making long shots, he’s got a chance. After all, playing next to Steph Curry tends to improve everyone’s three-point percentages. But if he wants to stay in the organization, there’s very few G League cities as nice as Santa Cruz. Just ask Adam Schefter.