For the second consecutive year, Brandan Wright finds himself carrying coolers and lugging some of his teammates' bags.

That's because Wright is a rookie — a highly regarded one, but a rookie nonetheless — for the second consecutive year.

This year, he is a rookie with the Golden State Warriors, who are conducting training camp at the Brigham Young-Hawai'i campus.

The Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers are both training on O'ahu this week. The camps will conclude when they play each other in preseason games at the Stan Sheriff Center on Tuesday and Thursday.

"They make me carry the coolers and stuff, but that's part of it," Wright said. "I'm expecting to do more. I went through it last year, too."

Wright, a 6-foot-9 forward, was a freshman at the University of North Carolina last season. After averaging 14.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and earning the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year award, he declared for early entry into the NBA Draft.

"There's a lot of things that come into play when making that decision," he said. "But looking back, that was the best decision for me."

Indeed, Wright was a "lottery" pick, the eighth overall selection by the Charlotte Bobcats.

Later on draft day, the Bobcats and Warriors completed a trade, with Wright going to Golden State and Jason Richardson going to Charlotte.

The trade drew mixed reviews in the Bay Area, mostly because Richardson was a fan favorite and a key contributor during Golden State's playoff run last season.

Wright said he had no control over the trade, and is just glad to be playing for any team in the NBA.

"Playing in this sport at this high level, there's always going to be pressure," he said. "But I really don't say I have to do this and I have to do that to prove myself. I just want to prepare myself and get better for this season."

Indications are, it may be a while before Wright is ready to make an impact with the Warriors.

Wright will celebrate his 20th birthday today, and he looks the part. He is a lanky 200 pounds, and wears braces on his teeth.

"He's a rookie right now," Golden State head coach Don Nelson said. "He's struggling like all the rest of them."

What's more, Wright missed playing in the summer league with the other Golden State rookies because of an injured hip.

He said he is fully recovered, and even reported to the Warriors' training facility in Oakland a few weeks early to prepare for the training camp in Hawai'i.

"I've been going strong for six to eight weeks now," he said. "I just needed to rest it a little bit, but I'm OK now. It's just a matter of getting used to my teammates and learning to play at this level. I would say there's a lot of learning going on for me right now."

Wright is one of four rookies in training camp with the Warriors. The others are first-round pick Marco Belinelli (18th overall), second-round selection Stephane Lasme, and free agent Carlos Powell.

Nelson said all the rookies have struggled during the first three days of camp.

"So far, I got them all in the same category," Nelson said. "The rookies are trying to improve individually and have a clue what's going on. The other guys are trying to get ready for the regular season, make sure our timing is down and we understand our play structure."

Prior to enrolling at North Carolina, Wright was an All-America high school player at Brentwood Academy in Tennessee. The year he graduated (2006) was the same year the NBA increased the age minimum for the NBA Draft to 19.

"Once they put the rules in, I put the idea (of turning pro straight from high school) out the window," he said. "It worked out, though. I'm here now."

Wright is the youngest player on a Golden State roster that is one of the youngest in the NBA (Pat Burke, 33, and Austin Croshere, 32, are the only players over 30).

Still, Wright said the veterans on the team have been accepting of him, and not just so he can carry their bags. Yesterday, for example, star player Baron Davis took on Wright in a friendly shooting contest after practice.

"All the guys are cool," Wright said. "We got guys my age all the way up to guys in their 30s, but we all talk, we all get along."

This is also Wright's first trip to Hawai'i, but he said it will be all about basketball.

"I've got so much to learn here if I want to get better as a player, I don't know if I'll have time for anything else," he said. "But at least it's warm and the weather is nice. I like that."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.