Is It Time For Golden State To Consider Trading James Wiseman?
A season of joy and celebration has quickly turned into a season full of question marks for the Golden State Warriors, as they currently find themselves struggling with many things early on this year.
Following a loss to the Sacramento Kings on the road Sunday night, the Warriors now find themselves 5-8 on the season and shockingly 0-7 on the road. Consistency has been one of the biggest issues for this team early on in the season, as outside of their core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, it is hard to predict what this team will look like night-in and night-out.
Part of this problem revolves around the fact that the Warriors had a ton of departures in the offseason from their championship team. As a result, GM Bob Myers and the front-office have made it clear that developing their youth and high-potential guys like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman will remain a priority.
These three young talents make up a chunk of Golden State’s depth in their second-unit, however, none of them have really proven to be players that can be counted on every single night.
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.
Wiseman has only played in 49 career games since being drafted second overall in 2020, which is part of his problems in terms of consistency and development on the court, and he is still learning. The Warriors have a very unique system on both ends of the floor and from setting screens at the right time to rolling to the basket at the right time to knowing where to be defensively, they expect excellence every single game.
This is not what they have received from Wiseman this season and instead, they he seems frustrated and out of sync with the rest of the roster, hence why he has been taken out of the rotation by head coach Steve Kerr.
Still just 21-years-old, Wiseman has a ton of potential, but he still has a lot of growing to do in terms of his basketball IQ. He barely played in college at Memphis due to recruiting violations that led to him being ruled ineligible and then in the NBA, injuries halted his development early on. Not to mention, the COVID season really hurt young talents league-wide.
Maybe it is not time to panic yet, but the Warriors do face a big decision with Wiseman this year because he has just one more year left on his contract after this season. Already committed to a ton of money through the next several seasons, the Warriors have the highest payroll in the NBA and may not be able to afford the young center long-term.
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. 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.
What to do with Wiseman is one of the more underrated storylines in the NBA this season and what the Warriors decide to do with him will not only affect their chances of winning another championship this year, but potentially over the course of the next decade.
There are no indications at this time that Golden State is looking to move on from the young center and instead, they are still confident that he has what it takes to work his way back into the rotation.
“Just keep working, trust the process, trust the work that you're putting in,” veteran center Kevon Looney said recently when asked what James Wiseman needs to do in order to get back into the team’s rotation. “Opportunities are always going to come back around.”
If anyone knows what it is like to play the center position for the Warriors and be in and out of the rotation, it is Kevon Looney, someone that went from being completely out of the rotation to playing in every single game last season, proving to be a key asset in the team’s championship run.
“I'm a guy that's been in and out of the rotation before a lot in my career, so things happen in the league and Steve [Kerr] always usually goes back to his guys, and I think he's going to get another chance to show what he's made of and he's a great player, great talent,” Looney went on to say. “I think he's going to figure out, he's going to be a great player for us… We're going to need him at some point, and he just kind of has to trust the process and wait your time.”
Making $9.6 million this season, trading Wiseman could open the door for the Warriors to lessen their tax bill for the season, as well as add more polished, veteran options to their second-unit, but the potential is still there for the youngster to step into the spotlight and become a key asset for this team.
Kevon Looney is an excellent example of persevering and getting back into the rotation, as is Jordan Poole, who seemed to have one foot out the door in the league back during the 2020-21 season when he was sent to the G League.
Opportunities come and go in this league and as long as he continues to work on his game both from a physical and mental standpoint, the Warriors will be able to utilize James Wiseman moving forward.
What the Warriors decide to do with him though could have drastic effects for how this franchise looks for the foreseeable future.
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