Missing big men: James Wiseman, Eric Paschall out 7 days in health protocol.
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The Warriors’ James Wiseman and Eric Paschall were ruled out of Wednesday’s game against the Rockets at Toyota Center after entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Wiseman and Paschall are in the health and safety protocols for contact tracing related to the coronavirus pandemic. According to head coach Steve Kerr, four or five support staffers also missed Wednesday’s game after entering the league’s health and safety protocols.
Wiseman and Paschall will be sidelined seven days, which rules them out for three more games: Friday and Saturday in Memphis, and Tuesday against the 76ers at Chase Center.
This is a significant setback for a team that has yet to win more than three games in a row this season. The extended absences of Wiseman and Paschall don’t hurt only Golden State’s playoff chances; they set back the development of two key young players.
Perhaps no story line is more important to the Warriors this season than the progress of Wiseman, who, like most 19yearolds in the NBA, has experienced his share of ups and downs as a rookie.
Before Wednesday’s news, he missed the preseason with a positive coronavirus test, endured criticism from pundits and fans for not playing as well as the player drafted right after him (Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball), missed nearly a month with a wrist injury, and sat out a practice and most of a loss to the Clippers last Thursday for forgetting a coronavirus test. Wiseman’s absences have made it more difficult for him to navigate an already steep learning curve.
He is averaging 11.8 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block in 20.8 minutes per game, but he has been a part of some of the Warriors’ worst lineups. Golden State has been outscored by a 6.4 net rating with Wiseman on the floor this season and is a plus3.1 without him.
This has left Kerr with a bit of a conundrum: Does he increase Wiseman’s minutes to speed up his development, even if that wouldn’t help the Warriors win games? In recent days, Kerr has preached a macro approach to Wiseman’s development, stressing the importance of Wiseman learning in practice before he can be ready for a bigger role in games.
Asked about how potentially missing a week or more because of the league’s health and safety protocols would affect Wiseman’s progress, Kerr said,
“It’s a setback in his rookie season, but this is a guy who’s got a 15 to 20year career ahead of him. So, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a huge deal. As it relates to this season, of course, it’s a big deal for James and for Eric.
“But again, this is the season we’re playing. This is the season we’re all trying to navigate through. Every team is going through this stuff. Every player is going through this stuff. It’s our job to navigate it, to deal with it.”
The absences of Wiseman and Paschall deplete an already thin frontcourt. Without those two, Golden State’s only true center is Kevon Looney. Draymond Green and Juan ToscanoAnderson can sub as smallball centers. Alen Smailagic also can play some center, though coaches would prefer not to play him meaningful minutes just yet.