Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv continued to secure the team’s continuity by extending Wade Baldwin IV’s contract through 2025. The wonderful guard, who was awarded March MVP honors in the EuroLeague and finished the regular season as one of the top scorers in Europe, joins Lorenzo Brown and Roman Sorkin in tying his future with the club.
“It’s been a very easy choice that I’ll be spending the next two seasons here with Maccabi”, said Wade Baldwin IV, “It’s been a great journey this year, we’ve had tremendous success. I want to continue that and grow. The family here is very taken care of, it’s a top-notch club, it’s a club I wanted to be part of for the past two years. I’m happy it’s finally come to this and I’m able to extend two years on this contract to see how things go. We want to build a club that is competitive every year at the highest level, to win championships and bring banners, and I want to be a part of this cause”.
“I wish to congratulate the club and Wade, it’s a big thing for both sides”, commented head coach Oded Kattash, “Apart from his known basketball abilities, Wade is also a leader. He is a central piece in what is being built here, and it’s another step towards securing the team’s continuity. You can feel and see that he feels part of this club. Wade has special character, is very charismatic, has great passion for the game and bring a lot of competitiveness – it brings me pleasure to coach him”.
Maccabi’s new sporting director, Avi Even, added: “We are glad that Wade signed for two more seasons with Maccabi. He is a central piece in our family and undoubtedly a leader of this team on and off the court. His signing is another integral part in our long-term building process and our plans to create a quality squad that will stay with us for a long time”.
Wade Baldwin IV has shown amazing improvement as the season progressed. Apart from the March MVP award, he was chosen as Maccabi’s player of the month three times. He ranks as the second leading scorers in the EuroLeague with 16.7 points per game, eight in assists, 11th in PIR and 13th in minutes. He shows leadership skills, competitive edge, great one-on-one defense against guards and small forwards and can create a shot for himself at any given moment.
Baldwin also leads Maccabi in the Israeli league with 12.9 PPG, while playing the most minutes in the squad (22.1). He also shoots 41.4% from beyond the arc and dishes 4.9 assists per game in Israel.
Wade Manson Baldwin IV was born on March 29th, 1996 in Belle Mead, New Jersey. He was a star in high school and played for Vanderbilt in college. Following a great sophomore season, in which he had 14.1 points per game on 40.6% from deep, along with 5.2 assists and 4 rebounds, he registered for the NBA draft. Baldwin IV was drafted 17th by Memphis.
Baldwin IV took part in 33 games for the Grizzlies, spent some time in the G-League and then bounced around the NBA: he moved to Portland, Cleveland, Houston, Indiana and Toronto’s G-League team. In the summer of 2019, David Blatt lured the tall guard to Europe, specifically to Olympiacos.
In his debut EuroLeague season, Baldwin started 9 games for the Greeks and played just over 16 minutes per game. His breakthrough came the next season in Munich; Baldwin announced himself as one of the leading scorers in Europe with 15.3 points per game, combined with 4 assists, 3 boards and 1.1 steals, leading Bayern to the playoffs.
On July 2021 he was signed by Baskonia as a leading player, and delivered 14.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 15.5 PIR. In the strong Spanish league, Baldwin IV had 12.3 points, 3.9 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 37.2% from 3-point range.
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