Warriors' Wiseman assigned to Santa Cruz

James Wiseman's anticipated return to the court inched closer to reality with the team announcing that the Warriors' 7-footer was assigned to practice with G League Santa Cruz on Friday.

Wiseman, 20, is expected to participate and scrimmage with Santa Cruz and is not expected to play Saturday's game against the Birmingham Squadron. But the assignment is a huge step in Wiseman's recovery, though the team has not announced an official return date.

With 22 games left in the regular season, the Warriors could use their second-overall pick's length down the stretch. Wiseman is 10 months removed from surgery on the meniscus in his right knee, his rehab picking up pace over the last month. Wiseman participated in a 5-on-5 scrimmage on Wednesday and the Tuesday before the All-star break, shortly after participating in 3-on-3 contact work the week prior.

“It felt like a huge step,” Wiseman said last Wednesday, the first time he addressed the media since his surgery. “Going through a lot of adversity for the past 10 months, actually being able to play 5-on-5, that's a huge step for me.”

Wiseman impressed in the team's first practice after the Allstar break, where cameras caught him burying a put-back dunk in scrimmage.

“He looked good. It was weird,” Steph Curry said on Wednesday. “It was like that rusty post All-star break scrimmage where the overall game was pretty sloppy but he had a lot of good energy. He had that putback dunk and just kind of champing at the bit to get to the next step of his return to play schedule. He's a beast when you look at him on the floor, especially with the rest of our team quote unquote undersized. He does stand out and can do some amazing things. It's just a matter of him getting comfortable and getting those reps. It's a good step in terms of his comeback.”