Kurtenbach
cruising past one of the toughest defensive teams in the NBA without breaking his stride.
He took 12 steps to go roughly 90 feet, picking up his dribble at his own 3-point line to throw down a one-handed dunk with ease. The whole operation was so fluid and fast that I didn’t realize it was Wiseman until after the play was over.
And I had to remind myself that he was only 19 years old. He can barely vote, much less drink.
He’s only a handful of games removed from playing high-school basketball.
There’s only two other 7-footers in the league who can do what Wiseman did the way he did it. One is Kevin Durant — arguably the greatest scorer in the history of the sport and the game’s greatest enigma. The other is Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.
By the way, it’s the second time Wiseman has done it in his young career, though the Sunday was the better of the two dunks.
It’s a super power. One of many.
There are bad moments, too. The Clippers picked on him in their two-game series last week, with Serge Ibaka pulling him onto the perimeter and then taking advantage of every one of the rookie’s missteps. The
Warriors might be fighting for respectability on a nightly basis these days, but those moments of failure from Wiseman have a charm to them because they are so quickly corrected.
Like when the Raptors tried to do the same thing on Sunday. Wiseman was sound. He learned.
The Warriors are pushing Wiseman, despite the fact that center is a position that takes years for young players to learn to play competently at the NBA level. The defensive end, in particular, is exceptionally challenging — it’s hard to be the hub.
But the Warriors are in win-now mode, unlike most teams that draft No. 2 overall. They have to push him. And they can do it because Wiseman is so talented and so coachable. One would argue it’d be malpractice not to push a talent like him.
“He’s a willing learner,” Kerr said. “He doesn’t take coaching personally.
He absorbs it and accepts it because he understands it’s all part of the process.”
“It’s insane. What we’re asking James to do is insane. [But] he’s handling it beautifully, because he’s willing to take those early lumps.”
The Warriors are learning about themselves, too. The team’s talent development in the championship era has been underwhelming. Since 2015, the Warriors have drafted eight players. Two, at best, developed into starter- caliber players: Eric Paschall (the Warriors’ third selection in last year’s NBA draft and a four-year college player) and Kevon Looney.
Meanwhile, Patrick McCaw is hanging onto a roster spot in Toronto, Jordan Poole isn’t in the Dubs’ rotation and Jacob Evans is in the G-League.
Things are even more dismal when it comes to big men. Jordan Bell is out of the league and Damion Jones is a backup
for the Suns, his third NBA team.
If the Warriors want to be a Spurs-like dynasty — sustainably regenerative — they have to produce an All-Star player behind their the three from their championship core.
And while they’ll have another shot at a high pick with Minnesota’s first-rounder either next year or in 2022, but they can’t mess up Wiseman.
So it’s all hands on deck from the coaching staff with player development coach Theo Robertson leading the way.
It helps, of course, to have players like Curry and Draymond Green as teammates and tutors.
Curry is the best pickand-roll partner anyone could want and his steady, understated leadership is the sets the right tone at the facility for a sharp kid like Wiseman. Kerr has called Curry the tiny Tim Duncan. Could that temperament create an environment that nurtures a modern- day version of the all-time great big man?
Green is a bit different, obviously, but that fire and defensive genius creates a necessary balance with the Dubs. Green can teach the tough lessons that are necessary to learn to make it in this league.
And Green’s excitement on tutoring Wiseman is genuine.
How could he not be? Green, above all else, is a basketball fan, and just like us, he’s in at the ground level of something that could be truly special.