Getty James Wiseman looks on prior to a 2021 game between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics.
It may be time for the Golden State Warriors to bail on their two-timeline plan and ship away their former No. 2 overall pick, one NBA analyst wrote.
The Warriors committed to a plan to build a team built around the veteran core to compete for more titles now alongside a group of young players who will develop and build a long-term title contender. But the plan has not worked out very well in the team’s title defense season, with the young players falling out of the rotation as the team has fallen to a 5-8 record.
SI.com writer Brett Siegel wrote that the Warriors may soon need to cut bait on one of the most disappointing of their young players.
Time for Warriors to Consider Trade?
After having the back end of his rookie season and entire sophomore season wiped out with a knee injury, Wiseman returned to the Warriors with hopes of growing into a key contributor this season.
It hasn’t gone the way he or the team has expected, however. Wiseman has not gotten off the bench in any of the team’s last three games, and is averaging just 7.3 points in 13.8 minutes per game this season.
James Wiseman over his last 5 games:
DNP
DNP
DNP
5 PTS
2 PTS
“Perhaps the biggest concern for the Warriors right now is James Wiseman and whether or not he can be everything that they have talked him up to be,” Siegal wrote, noting that Wiseman has been out-of-sync with the rest of the offense.
Siegal added that the Warriors could still find a good trade market for Wiseman, and could consider taking the risk and trading him.
“Trading James Wiseman now while his value is still relatively high could offer the Warriors a return of experienced veteran assets that they could utilize in another championship-like run,” he wrote. “However, on the flip side of things, trading Wiseman definitely takes away a chunk of long-term potential the Warriors have and a player many within the organization view as a potential All-Star center one day.”
Warriors Holding Steady
While head coach Steve Kerr appears to be losing his patience with spending developmental minutes on the team’s young stars, the team still appears optimistic that they can turn it around. Veteran center Kevon Looney said he has been helping Wiseman through his early struggles, encouraging him to keep working and earning his way back into the rotation.
“Just keep working, trust the process, trust the work that you’re putting in,” Looney said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Opportunities are always going to come back around.”
Warriors have picked up James Wiseman’s fourth-year option, alongside Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody’s third-year options, per @kendra__andrews
Both of the Warriors’ 2021 lottery picks, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, have also fallen out of the rotation, but head coach Steve Kerr said he believed all would find their footing.
“That’s the big thing,” Kerr said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “When you’re a young player trying to find a role, it’s really important to just be solid. And I think the hardest part for Moses, and for JK and Wise, is that they’re young guys that need to learn by making mistakes so that they can figure out what they can and can’t do. But we’re not a team right now that can afford to let guys make mistakes. So it’s unfair to them, but it’s the reality of what we’re facing the way we’re playing.”