What to make of James Wiseman’s NBA debut with the Golden State Warriors
The 2020-21 NBA opened with a game between the Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets. It was one of two games to tip-off the season and like every opening night, it drew the attention of fans of every single team.
It must’ve been incredibly scary for the second overall draft pick James Wiseman who, after missing the entire preseason, was starting at the center position with no Draymond Green next to him and having to guard Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving among others.
The high watermark for Wiseman this season, in my opinion, as an Andrew Bogut type to play alongside Draymond, letting him roam around, helping wherever he wants while the height and wingspan of Wiseman can play safety, cleaning up any slippages that get past.
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It’s the definition of opposites when playing next to former Defensive Player of the Year in Green compared to second-year, score-first, ‘is he actually good or just on a bad team?’ Eric Paschall which he did against the Nets.
He played five short minutes to start the first quarter and didn’t touch the court much until the third quarter and then fourth which was garbage time.
His first career basket was an easy one-off of a nice pick-and-roll, but the jitters were visible.
There were a few awkward moments where he tried to make a running post hook over DeAndre Jordan, got out-rebounded by Kyrie under the basket, and took two of the deepest two-pointers known to man, both clanging off the rim.
But then we go to garbage time and we saw the “flashes” that we all know are going to be on Twitter and Instagram feeds for the next few weeks. On back-to-back possessions, Wiseman hits a wide-open 3, his first for the game, and then follows it up with a mid-range make on the baseline.
From what we could see on the TNT broadcast, he had a few words to say on the way back down the court. It’s much easier to talk crap when scoring on Bruce Brown and Reggie Perry than KD and Kyrie, but you’ll take it.
His struggles (in the early parts of the game when it mattered) are also part of a larger team issue for the Warriors as Steve Kerr was cycling through his rotation like the yellow jacket in the Tour de France. After five minutes, the Warriors then looked at Kevon Looney and then Marquese Chriss next to a number of the starters.
Looney looks like the most natural fit which is obviously because of his time on the team and playing with Stephen Curry, but he doesn’t have the natural athleticism and talent that bring Chriss and Wiseman into the discussion.
The game just looks prettier with Looney running dribble-handoffs with Curry than any of the other bigs who tried since they were picking up their dribble after the initial run, but that’ll get better with time on the court together.
Both Chriss and Wiseman would be better lob threats if they operate in this action, a staple of Warriors basketball since Kerr arrived and if Wiseman’s jump shot is as silky as the fourth quarter showed us, then that’s just another weapon in the Dubs’ arsenal and another wrinkle for Steph to play around with on offense.
When you look at the box score for this game, you’ll read 19 points, six rebounds, and 7-13 from the floor. It’s good, yes, but before the fourth quarter, he had at least a -22 plus/minus against the starters.
If Wiseman can get as comfortable against the starters as he was against the second unit, the Warriors will have a weapon for the future. All we have to do is watch him grow in confidence, get better at reading the offense and do it all again against another title contender on Christmas Day.