San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Warriors walking fine line with Wiseman
Less than 30 seconds into the fourth quarter of Friday night’s 130121 win over the Hornets, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr leaped out of his seat, called a timeout and waved center James Wiseman over to him. Wiseman had been slow to rotate defensively, allowing Charlotte guard Malik Monk to drive in for an uncontested layup. This frustrated Kerr because he had told Wiseman how to handle that exact read numerous times this season. As Kerr reiterated in heated tones that Wiseman needed to rotate more quickly, the rookie nodded.
One of the reasons Golden State selected Wiseman with the No. 2 pick in November’s draft was his ability to take direction. But even though he’s an avid learner, Wiseman still toils through the early struggles one would expect from a
19yearold in a league filled with grown men.
In almost every game, Wiseman sandwiches highlightworthy blocks or dunks with a botched boxout or blown defensive rotation. Those extremes have left Kerr with a tricky decision: Should he heap responsibility onto Wiseman in hopes that experience will be the best teacher, or would it be better easing Wiseman into a heavy workload?
Kerr has opted for the latter approach in recent weeks because he believes too much, too soon could hurt Wiseman’s longterm development. The stakes are high. Little more than a month shy of his 20th birthday, Wiseman possesses the size, athleticism and intangibles to become something the Warriors haven’t had since perhaps Wilt Chamberlain: a bona fide franchise center. If Wiseman can maximize his potential, Golden State will have a building block capable of leading it into a new era once Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — all currently in their early 30s — near retirement. But if Wiseman plateaus as merely a helpful rotation player, the Warriors will have a much tougher time staying relevant.
Outside of the topthreeprotected 2021 pick from Minnesota it obtained in the Andrew Wiggins trade in February 2020, Golden State might not draft in the lottery again anytime soon. It also could struggle to acquire another AllStarcaliber player without parting with one or more of its foundational pieces.
Given that Wiseman’s growth — not even a playoff berth — might be his most important objective this season, Kerr is justified in being conservative with him. Nearly five weeks ago, when Kerr replaced Wiseman in the starting lineup with Kevon Looney, Kerr thought just as much about taking the pressure off Wiseman as he did remedying the Warriors’ slow starts.
With so few practices inseason to work out kinks, Wiseman figured to benefit from watching how Looney and others defended in space and made offensive reads. The move to the bench has benefited Wiseman for the most part. In seven games as a reserve, he is averaging 13.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18.1 minutes.
“All things considered, he’s playing damn good,” Green said. “He’ll get better, but is he frustrated? I’m sure he is. This is the first time in his life where he can’t step on the court and dominate everybody like he wants to dominate them. That takes some adjusting.”
Since returning Tuesday from a wrist injury that sidelined him threeplus weeks, Wiseman has looked more comfortable. The problems that plagued him early — biting on pump fakes, landing out of position defensively, fouling shooters at the rim — are less of an issue.
But as that late rotation on Monk early in the fourth quarter Friday illustrated, Wiseman can be a liability at times — particularly on defense. Wiseman ranks first among rookies in blocks (1.1 per game), second in rebounds (5.8 per game), and fourth in scoring (12.3 points per game) and shooting percentage (52.3), but he is 16th in minutes per game (20.4). Eager to find his highly touted youngster more playing time, Kerr recently inserted Wiseman into the second unit that opens the second and fourth quarters, only for the group to labor.
While with that lineup Friday, Wiseman missed a few isolation jumpers and bobbled a shovel pass from guard Brad Wanamaker. Without Green and Curry to direct him on the floor, Wiseman can appear a bit lost.
“He’s just a kid, and he’s just learning,” Kerr said. “But he’s also just incredibly talented, and we want to help him develop as quickly as possible.”
When evaluating Wiseman, the Warriors are careful to maintain perspective. This is someone who, after a college career that lasted all of 69 minutes, no summer league and no preseason exhibitions, has appeared in only 23 of a possible 34 regularseason games.
None of the previous dozenplus big men in the modern NBA who played meaningful minutes at age 19 averaged as many points as Wiseman is averaging. A selfdescribed perfectionist, he has demonstrated a high personal standard that bodes well for his future.
Considering how quickly Wiseman has improved, he might soon deserve to play closer to the 30minute range. The difficult part for Kerr will be identifying the precise time to start ramping up Wiseman’s workload. Few doubt his upside, but overburdening him this season could make it harder for him to achieve greatness.
“I’ve just got to stay humble, take it one day at a time,” Wiseman said. “My time is coming soon.”