Warriors center James Wiseman returned to the court on Thursday for the first time in 11 months, playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League after recovering from a pair of procedures on his knee. As Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, Wiseman had to shake off some rust, but had a productive outing, scoring 18 points and grabbing six rebounds in just 21 minutes.
According to Slater, the plan is for Wiseman to review film of the game on Friday, practice with Santa Cruz on Saturday, and play in another G League contest on Sunday. After that, Golden State will determine whether or not he’s ready to make his NBA return.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Jordan Poole‘s dagger three-pointers in the final minute of the Warriors’ Thursday win over Denver was the latest example of the 22-year-old’s ability to rise to big moments, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic, who says Poole’s regular season performance bodes well for his odds of playing an important role in the team’s playoff run.
- Conversely, Andrew Wiggins‘ game has taken a “taken a precipitous decline” as of late, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Wiggins has made just 34.6% of his free throw attempts since January, prompting Poole to wonder whether the All-Star forward can still be a regular part of crunch-time lineups this spring if he doesn’t turn things around soon.
- Klay Thompson‘s shooting numbers this season – including 34.5% from the floor and 28.8% on threes in his last seven games – remain well below his career rates. But head coach Steve Kerr isn’t worried about the veteran sharpshooter, who is still working his way back into top form following a two-and-a-half year absence due to ACL and Achilles tears. “The only thing that I’m stressing with Klay right now is to just get great shots,” Kerr said on Thursday, per Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Bay Area. “If he’s not open, to move it on. I think we’ve really tried to give Klay a lot of freedom in his comeback, just to be able to feel the game. Not to harp on mistakes and that sort of thing. But the bottom line is we are at our best when the ball moves, and we’re getting good shots.”
Information is power in the NBA and I think long term it may be a blessing GSW is getting to see the dark side of the Wiggins Moon right now
I expect him shipped out in the summer for a major upgrade that will rock the NBA
But he’s not very good. You won’t get an upgrade.
He’s a near elite to elite perimeter defender that hits .401 from 3. He actually is very good and fits the Warriors almost perfectly. Not sure who they could get that would be an upgrade without throwing in some young talent. He’s going through a shooting slump but even Curry is mired in a shooting slump right now. When Green is ready he’ll help fix what’s ailing all of them.
The 40% is based on half a season. Sense the All Star Break, his shooting has gone south. It doesn’t sound like a slump. It sounds more like he has case of the Yips.
He’s shooting 38-88 .432 from 2 and 15-38 .395 from 3 since the All-Star break. Sure his free throws have been horrid at 5-10 but I don’t see it as a big issue as he hasn’ taken all that many while playing for the Warriors the 1st place.
I read the article referenced in the post and the author is comparing numbers from 6 years ago when Wiggins role was very different from what it is now.
Of course his Warriors role was different 6 years ago, he was playing in Minnesota. If he can’t shoot a free throw, he will probably lose his role as a starter.
@Giants74 That’s exactly what I was thinking when the article said he recently has less than a 40% free throw percentage..
I honestly thought that it had to be wrong and it must be a typo..
If true though, it has to be mental from putting too much stress on himself…
NO solid regular 15-20 ppg wing, that’s typically a good to really good shooter, just shoots 40% at the line during any period because of a simple slump..That is DEFINITELY a mental block and stress related…
He’s highly paid and mediocre – if anything the Warriors will have to give up assets to get rid of him.
Wiggins has 1 year left on his contract. So trading him for a couple mediocre players will be not that tough. They also could trade draft rights to Jessup who is playing overseas and becoming a solid player. They will need Wiggins pay to keep Poole and other younger better players on the team.
If the center piece of your trade is mediocre player, you are not getting a major player in return. A backup player at best. And more than likely, the other team will have to throw in other assets to make the salaries work.
Cap & Crunch didn’t mention anything about trading any mediocre players though.
In order for that to happen, they’d likely have to also trade either Kuminga or Moody with Wiggins, and probably a 1st Rounder or some combo of draft picks.
Relative to his pay, Wiggins is not someone that’s going to fetch any kind of sizeable return. However, if he were to be combined with Moody or Kuminga, and then some.comvo of picks, THEN AND ONLY THEN could the Warriors really get a good to great return back.
If they are to upgrade from Wiggins, I think it would be a two-step process. They’d likely have to trade him to a team with a first rounder to absorb his contract, and then maybe they could sign a better player to replace him, or work out a sign and trade, with a trade exemption from Wiggins, if they cannot just sign the player for capped purposes..
Obviously the W’s would not trade JK or MM, as Wiggins would be traded to be replaced by one of them . But the W’s might very well give up a first rounder to get rid of Wiggs’ salary.
He’s a 33 mill expiring , ofc assets will be added, ones in which they have in spades-
Circle back in July, we shall discuss under the GSW trades Wiggins thread
A package highlighted by Wiggins would not fetch an upgrade. Include other assets then sure.
Added salaries will make him more difficult to trade.
I see a trade that could work. Wiggins to Pacers for Turner and a sign of Rubio for $12 million 1 year deal. Pacers would get a Wiggins who can be their starter. Rubio said he wanted to play for Warriors so he gets a 1 year deal Warriors throw in a 2nd round pick.
It would work but it would put a significant roadblock in front of Wiseman when he’s ready to start. It would also cause Thompson to slide to the 3 against bigger wings because I don’t think Kuminga will be ready to be a full time starter on a team that’s trying to contend.
Turner takes Looney place who is a free agent. Moody will start over Kuminga. Both Moody and Kuminga will need minutes next season. Wiggins is taking up too much in minutes.
The problem with that trade is that it leaves the Pacers without a center.
Pacers have not been using him much of the year because of all his injuries. They probably like to get rid of a unreliable player for a everyday player. That is why it works out for the Pacers.
Pacers say no, they need Turner and Wiggins is not their style. 0% chance.
Why would the Warriors want an unreliable player? Doesn’t make sense.
Why on Earth would the Pacers trade Turner for Wiggins??????
GSW will be fine. They have drafted well abs everyone wants to play for them.
Umm…Not everyone. They need a veteran big.
Who gets paid more, Poole or Herro?
As much as we like Poole, Herro is ahead of Poole and deserves to be paid more. Dont forget Herro starred in postseason 2 yrs ago.
Herro probably gets more, but they’re extremely similar players
I’m other words stop shooting the ball every time you touch it Klay!
Whats even worse for the Pacers is that they are also likely to lose J.Smith from the Phoenix trade as well…
He’s looked like a pretty solid, young, and improving big, but the Pacers can only offer him less than 5mil, because the Suns declined his option.
So, they’re likely to lose him also for absolutely nothing..
I Hate to say it, but if I were the Pacers GM, I would have just played Smith in only 10-12 minute spurts hoping no other team would offer him more than the 4.3mil or so they can resign him for..
I certainly wouldn’t be showcasing him for 20-25 minutes a night, letting him price his way out of returning..That was pretty dumb by the Pacers..
Taking advantage of your best young talent in this way is not the best decision for the long-term health of the organization. You play those guys who earn it and you pay them consistent with their performance. The Pacers may even lose Smith, which is a shame, but other players take notice and build respect, trust, and loyalty to the organization. That’s bedrock.
While typically I’d agree with you, players also do know it is a business. Not to mention, it isn’t often that cases like Smith’s come up very often, so it’s definitely an outlier rather than the norm.
I’m sure Smith definitely appreciates how the Pacers have handled him, but, due to his stellar play, all the Pacers will get in return is a thank you card after he leaves for more money.
Any other situation, like I said, I’d normally agree, but in this situation, the Pacers are really only doing themselves a disservice..I honestly don’t think anyone except Smith would look down on them handling it differently by limiting his exposure. Heck, he was barely playing in Phoenix as it was before the trade. They could have easily let him adjust to their system, and only played him 10-15 a nite, and significantly increased their chances of keeping him. Honestly, Smith probably wouldn’t have even minded it, and likely would have appreciated the experience and playing time..
By no means was I saying they should just sit him, and not play him at all. I wouldn’t agree with that at all..
If he happens to take their deal of approx.4-5mil, instead of taking more money elsewhere, then I guess they’ll be rewarded. I just highly doubt that’ll be the case.
Sadly the reality is that Klay needs all this season & next season to get back in to shape… I would say he will be back at 100% barring injuries by the ’24 season, but… of course he then will be a couple years older… I think he will never be the player he was again, but hopefully he can be a kind of good rotation guy as he seems to be a nice guy, damn injuries!
Yeah, his legs are seeming to get tired on him, he knows it and feels it, so he is likely overcompensating..
That is the only thing I can think of that is causing his shot to be off..I’d imagine his early struggles are also causing him to start second guessing hisself as well…
I say that because of what Kerr said that he’s told Klay to basically just “keep shooting look, but to look for good, open shots.” Before it didn’t matter whether Klay was open or not, he was going to fire his shots and take advantage of the littlest amount of separation from his defender…
Idk, like I said, that sounds like Kerr is trying to get him to relax, get out of his own head, and stop pressuring himself to be the same player he used to be.
I think Klay will be just fine in due time, it might take him up until the off-season to fully regain his stamina and sniper mindset, but I think he can come back next season looking more like his old self. I don’t think he’ll ever truly be able to be the bouncy, sneaky quick, defensive stopper, and all-around playmaker he used to be, but I think he can be a solid shooting wing, that can matchup defensively just not against the fast guards like he used to..I also don’t think you will see him running around screens all over the court like you used to, but Klay will be good again, just a different version of his former self..
The Warriors can have Moody and Kuminga to keep up with opponents quickest and fastest offensive players. They won’t need Klay to have to do that anymore..