Wiseman's big night brightens Warriors' uncertain future

The game Wednesday night was garbage on fire, the Nets torching the Warriors from the opening tip. Beneath the trash, though, James Wiseman was making a statement sure to bring tears to eyes across the franchise.

Tears of joy.

In the 55th game of an NBA career defined by stops and starts and mounting frustration, Wiseman rang up his first 30-point game. He did it on 14 shots on a variety of dunks and hooks, but also splashing his only attempt from beyond the arc. This was as the Warriors imagined when they selected him with the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft.

With the Warriors nearing the point of deciding whether to remain committed to Wiseman or be prepared to part with him in trade, a productive game, regardless of quality, showcases his abilities. More of this means there is more for the NBA to like, whether its Golden State or elsewhere.

“James did a great job tonight,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters in Brooklyn after a 143-113 loss. “It was fun to see him let loose and get some minutes and make the most of it. He did a lot of good things offensively.”

Wiseman can get buckets. Always could. His shooting touch is naturally soft, and his footwork is improving. He still looks like a young man a year out of high school, which in basketball terms he is.

But as nice as it is to have an athletic 7-foot-1 center, only 21 years old, who can drop 30 in an NBA game, that’s not what the Warriors need of Wiseman. It’s not their priority now, nor is it typical of their recent history.

When Kerr became head coach in May 2014, he inherited Andrew Bogut, a natural defender with a high basketball IQ and an eagerness to use his physicality to benefit the team. Set a hard screen? By all means. Discourage drives to the rim? You bet. Direct traffic in the paint? Bogut prided himself on knowing where and when to be at a specific spot on the floor.

Bogut’s presence – and his influence on young Draymond Green – was a huge factor in the Warriors winning a franchise-record 67 games and the NBA Finals in Kerr’s rookie season.

In the years since, the Warriors have won three more championships. And their designated centers have been cut from similar cloth. Bogut gave way to Zaza Pachulia/David West, who gave way to Kevon Looney. JaVale McGee was the team’s change-of-pace center, but he operated with similar principles.

Those guys rarely scored in double digits, but their objective was clear. It’s the same with Draymond Green when he slides to center.

And the role of Warriors center won’t change very much until the day the Warriors no longer are built around Stephen Curry. That day has not arrived.

Yet here is Wiseman, a vastly different kind of player than his predecessors. The Warriors accepted that when they drafted him. They saw him as their post-Curry center, someone who could be a presence in the paint at both ends, capable of getting 20 points and 10 rebounds most any night.

Wiseman still might be that. Someday. His peak is unknown, but less than 60 games into his NBA career, he is nowhere near it.

Yet there is Curry, still magnificent at age 34, with no end in sight. Curry benefitted from Bogut, from Pachulia, from West, from McGee. He benefits from Looney.

Wiseman? Not so much.

The Warriors have spent two years and millions of dollars trying to nudge Wiseman toward becoming the big man they need, rather than the one he is. They lured a coach, Dejan Milojević, from Europe to guide Wiseman’s gifts, refine his raw skills and summon his inner tiger. This is very much a work in progress, likely to take multiple years – if ever.

“He has a great impact on my development,” Wiseman said of Milojević. “We’re still working on a lot of stuff, especially defense. We’re chipping away at it every day, trying to figure it out by watching film or talking or just going to dinner and talking about basketball.”

RELATED: Warriors' historically bad first half leads to ugly Nets loss

Note that Kerr specified Wiseman “did a lot of good things offensively.”
Note that Wiseman specified that the focus of his developmental program is “especially defense.”

Wiseman remains in limbo, between the NBA and the G League, between what the Warriors want and what he has to offer. His assets on the offense end are good – but not so wonderful they offset his defensive liabilities.

But it’s a joyful moment for the Warriors when someone whose future is being debated, as Wiseman is, puts on a show. It’s one thing they can take from an otherwise forgettable night.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast