Warriors Send James Wiseman To G League For An ‘Extended Period’

James Wiseman has had an especially difficult time. Wiseman, the No. 2 overall choice in the 2020 NBA Draft, began the 2022–23 season as a member of Golden State’s rotation but saw no action in three of the team’s final four games.

James Wiseman has put the Golden State Warriors in a difficult situation. They are primarily focused on winning a championship, but they are also heavily invested in trying to develop Wiseman, who they selected with the second overall pick in the 2020 draft. The truth is that Wiseman isn’t good enough to start on the court for a team with Golden State’s goals, despite their best efforts to give him the freedom on the court he needs to develop.

Sending Wiseman to Golden State’s G League club in Santa Cruz is the temporary fix, and Steve Kerr revealed that the Warriors would do so beginning on Tuesday.

Warriors Send James Wiseman To G League For An ‘Extended Period

Wiseman has had a disjointed appearance on both ends of the floor to begin this season, as TSN’s Jordan Greer explained here. In particular, he frequently finds himself in a defensive limbo and hasn’t provided the Warriors with the screening they need from their big man.

James Wiseman will need time to mature, according to Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Wiseman played just three games in college and has only played in 50 games in the NBA thus far because of injuries. Kerr noted that he would get some much-needed reps during his G League assignment.

“He’s going to Santa Cruz tomorrow, and we will keep him there for an extended period to get really good practice time and some games,” Steve Kerr said. “It’s not going to be, you know, one game and bring him back. We want to give him maybe ten straight days, something like that, and come back.”

“We all know things happen in this league. He’s going to find his way back to the rotation at some point. But the best thing for him is to play a lot of minutes and get a lot of reps.”

Early in his career, G League player Jordan Poole delivered a similar message, stating that James Wiseman’s assignment should not be seen as a downgrade.

“It’s not a punishment,” explained Jordan Poole, who says he talks to Wiseman “all of the time.”

“You’re going to go down there and shoot as many shots as you want, get as many touches as you want, work on as many moves as you want. Just have fun. You know, it’s just basketball.”

 

 

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