The Warriors will assign center James Wiseman to their G League affiliate in Santa Cruz for an “extended period,” head coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the team’s blowout win over San Antonio on Monday (Twitter video link via Anthony Slater of The Athletic).
“It’s not going to be one game and bring him back,” Kerr said. “We want to give him maybe 10 straight days, something like that.”
Wiseman opened the season as a regular part of Golden State’s rotation off the bench, but struggled to produce consistently and was a DNP-CD for three straight games last week. He got back on the court on Monday vs. the Spurs, but only once the Warriors had already put the game out of reach. For the season, he has a -24.4 net rating in his 147 minutes.
While Kerr said he anticipates the former No. 2 overall pick regaining a rotation spot at some point, the Warriors want to make sure he’s getting regular playing time and game reps instead of sitting on the bench with the NBA club.
As Kendra Andrews of ESPN writes, Wiseman said on Monday that he isn’t viewing the move as a demotion. Jordan Poole spent time in the G League during the 2020/21 season before eventually breaking out for the Warriors, and he’s optimistic that – like it did for him – some time in Santa Cruz could serve his teammate well.
“I’m telling (Wiseman) this is not a demotion. This is not a punishment,” Poole said, according to Andrews. “… I’m telling him to go down there and take 50 shots, be aggressive, get techs, hang on the rim, do it all. Just so he can understand what he wants to be at the highest level. This is just a step in that direction.”
Santa Cruz is scheduled to play against the South Bay Lakers on Saturday, followed by a back-to-back set against the Salt Lake City Stars on Monday and Tuesday. If Wiseman stays with the team beyond that, he could square off against Scoot Henderson and the G League Ignite next Friday (November 25).
Yikes. Bust city.
A perfect example of a guy that sucks at being a basketball fan. Why are there so many guys like this on this site? I’m sure he has many accounts with many usernames & is awful on them all but still it seems like there’s an unusual amount of just terrible basketball fans on this site. Is it just football/baseball fans from the affiliate sites trolling?
Yes you’re right. The guy has less than 60 games at a high level on his resume. That includes NBA College and summer league. A lot of times it takes the big guys a little longer to develop. They don’t come into the NBA polished after 4 years of college like the 80s and ’90s big men.
Please teach me how to be a great internet basketball site fan Sanakra. Do we attend classes?
So the man isn’t entitled to his opinion. The kid has been a complete bust so far.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. That doesn’t mean they’re right.
Why are you so concerned about these wannabees. Internet is full of haters like this. No knowledge, can’t understand, don’t care. Just repeat what others say. So why wouldn’t they come here. If you have respect for this game and real fans. You should concentrate on that. You’ll never change these scrubs. All kinds of haters in the world. You don’t need to hate on them. Although they do need straightening out once in awhile. It’s all about balling lol
@MB81 its easy! Just be a delusional Hawks fan and spam every story you can with either nonsense about your favorite shows or direct sight to keyboard relations that anyone with eyes can see! And if all else fails, you can always pull the race card….
People called Embid a bust when he couldn’t stay healthy his first few seasons.
Really I don’t recall that.
He was drafted after having foot surgery. Didn’t even show up to draft in person. Missed entire first year and half of second and didn’t make his name known until his first full year..
I recall back issue coming out of Kansas. I recall foot issues,after drafted, but no I don’t recall the word bust ever associated with jojo.
Good point ……. and good example
Terrible point albert.
A guy drafted #2 overall being sent to the G-League would fall into the bust category at this point. You expect that guy to be a solid contributor. Based on his win shares he is the 32nd best player from the 2020 draft slighly ahead of Skylar Mays (the 50th pick) and behind Jordan Nwora (the 45th pick).
It’s funny seeing some Warriors fans trying to argue everything is fine, that big men take awhile to develop in the NBA and he just needs time.
While part of that is true and he’s missed a lot of time with injury, his future doesn’t look great right now. Even if he improves, his ceiling is likely not going to come close to where expectations were. That’s at least part bust. At this point, you’d just be happy if he becomes a high-end bench/low-end starter, but even those outcomes are far from a certainty.
Still, I wouldn’t say complete bust just yet. But he needs to show some improvement before the end of the season.
but speakin off Scoot… Youngster was knockin down shots like a seasoned vet last night in Oklahoma. The boy Ousmane Dieng was arguably even better tho.. link to m.youtube.com
Hopefully this win against the spurs shows coach Kerr the way forward. He has to give klay the tap on the shoulder he gave to David Lee and Iggy in the past. Thompson has to come off the bench for the best of the team. The numbers tell us that GS has been 22-21 with Klay back starting and are 36-18 with Poole starting in the last 2 years
It’s not so much Klay having to leave the “closing 5” its more about Kerr creating better rotations and resting players correctly. The starting 5 works, but its time to move both Klay and Looney into the 2nd unit, just to get 2 high IQ guys out there with the youth.
Kerr has rested Curry, Dray, Klay and Wiggins all in 1 game but all 4 should have been rested individually over 4 games, like Klay was last night.
I have not seen an NBA HC so bad at every single aspect of the job, yet still get held in high regard, simply because Steph Curry exists.
Lamb looked great last night. Noticed your slander of him is missing in this post. Wrong once again.
Came here to hear A’sfan’s silly diatribe. Wasn’t disappointed.
Remember, this guy knows balls.
Cool, so you admit you are openly stalking me now?
The MUTE button exists…use it.
@Mods ….
It’s not quite that simple though. Klay is an auxiliary kind of guy that belongs in the starting lineup with the two ball handling guys dominating the dribbling. You have to have a shooter out there who doesn’t drive and create. And that’s not including Wiggins as the third ball handler.
Without Poole on the second unit, Klay Thompson with the reserves would be basically ineffective. Sure Donte would get him the ball but Klay is not a creative driver to the hole who can create offense for himself and others. He’s perfect in this starting lineup which by the way is highly rated and you don’t want to change it.
It’s not the starters that are the problem, it’s the bench and Klay going to the bench would make it worse.
Klay’s defense is coming around but his shot has been off. They should rest him a little more so his legs are not as tired.
But is Klay healthy or in shape to play? If it takes time for him to be 100%, why not come off the bench like Curry did last year. Unfortunately, Klay has a big ego about starting like Westbrook and refuses to come off the bench even for a game. In the meantime, Poole also needs to get into a rhythm and build his confidence so he doesnt try to do too much. It could be all coincidence, but Warriors record was outstanding with Poole in the starting lineup.
The way Klay is shooting I would say no his legs are not as strong and still needs limited minutes. I would start with Poole and use Klay after 5 minutes and rest him every 5 minutes of play.
How about we rest Klay for 10 games to build his strength and see what happens. :)
Watching last night game with Wiseman on the floor you could see he was getting lost on the switch outs. He was losing his man who he was guarding. NBA coaches probably noticed it after the firs 2 games of the season why they went after Wiseman. Best thing for him is the G league and learn defensive rotations.
Well, who plays Defense in the GLeague? Those dudes are volume Chuckers that are trying to get Noticed, and not as interested in playing D or Team Ball.
If you think Wiseman was in Foul Trouble covering up for Poole on the big league squad, he’ll have to cover up for even more players on the GLeague squad.
Also, prioritizing JaMychal Green getting Minutes at the backup 5 over Wiseman, when JaMychal likely won’t even be on the Team next year, is very debatable and Don Nelson-like. He used to play shooting guard Terry Teagle at Power Forward instead of Tyrone Hill and Larry Smith.
I think the Wiseman with the Starting Unit experiment wasn’t given enough of a Sample Size. I think he would learn more from playing with our HOFers than playing with GLeaguers.
The Warriors cannot afford to keep losing games by giving sizeable minutes to a player who is objectively terrible right now, especially with the rest of the bench not being great either. They have no choice but to send him to the G-League.
And yes, he CAN play defense in the G-League if the coaches hold him accountable. Who cares what everyone else does? Work on that BBIQ.
Again, its playing him with the other “lost” looking guys, like how the 2-way guys always are lost on D.
Kerr has all the talent in the league and is below .500 because he doesnt know how to correctly play young players and a HOF starting 5 at the same time.
Are these guys tanking for victor
Warriors are a great organization but they somehow missed on that #2 overall pick. Rest of the leauge is lucky they did.
Really stupid to act like he’s a lost cause honestly. Just give him time, this is a good move for them, as the moron HC cant seem to understand how to create rotations that dont have 2-way players in them that instantly tank games anymore.
Who else should they have taken? I wanted Haliburton or Ball but then if you get either of them you dont get to keep Poole. That draft wasnt a good fit for GSW and I still have seen enough glimpses of Wiseman to know he’s got it in him, he just needs a non-Kerr coach for a while, like Poole.
The best player available, period. Work it out later. Warriors with Ball would’ve been nuts
We Warriors fans dont want to admit it, but we are all disappointed with Wiseman. We all want him to play well so badly. Yes, it’s true that he had the knee injury, but we all expected more out of #2 draft pick in 3rd yr. Myers, Kerr, and all star trio also had high expectations, or else they would not have drafted him. It doesnt do Warriors any good if he doesnt play well until his 5-6th yr. That being said, Warriors have no choice but to send him to GLeague and hope he turns it around like Poole. Still it’s a bold move, he’s #2 pick and getting paid $10m+ and not a low first round pick.
There is no other option on Wiseman but to play everyday and see what he has. It always could be the system which is high IQ system and Wiseman might fit better in another system. We seen the talent but now he needs to show he can adjust.
You should be more disappointed in how Kerr is using Wiseman, just like Poole, Wiseman will blossom under a non-Kerr HC.
I admitted that Wiseman was a bad fit for the Warriors long ago. That doesn’t mean he won’t eventually figure things out and fulfill his potential. I just doubt it will be with the Warriors. Hopefully his struggles don’t completely destroy his trade value but I doubt they could anything more than a lottery protected pick at this point.
In that exact draft though, there are no players who fit this team either. Cant have Lamelo, Maxey, Bane or Haliburton because then no Poole. Wiseman is still kind of the best fit GSW could have gotten there, Wiseman is still way better than Killian Hayes, even if he’s struggling.
I wouldnt blame GSW for the draft, it was not a strong one to begin with. But also Wiseman will get there, he’s been so underplayed his entire pro career, he really does need a half year at Santa Cruz just to get 30 MPG for a while.
I agree he should stay at Santa Cruz until at least the All Star Break.
$10 million per year to go to traffic school …
Another Marvin Bagley II. Lamello was the clear choice back then. Warriors screwed up. Better off giving Lamello all that money over Poole
I wish they had taken Tyrese Haliburton who is a better fit with the Warriors than Lamello. At the time of that draft there were rumors the Warriors were considering trading down a bit and picking Haliburton. In hindsight, they should have just taken him with the 2nd pick.
There were no clear choices that year silly
Another horrific take. Lamelo was NOT the clear choice, liar.
Poole is also better than Lamelo. GSW W’s all over your dumb Knicks fan face.
Probably to see if he’s healthy enough to handle bigger minutes, longer stretches, reliably. I think the Warriors are doing everything to be careful with him. This is the next step. His I.Q. could be behind a little. Another way the G-league helps. Hasn’t played many big league games
Geez I wonder who said play Klay off the bench. Let him get healthy and strong for playoffs…..
!?????
It’s so good to see teams and coaches use the G-league for their young players. Just cause you were a top pick. Doesn’t mean you are ready or can step in. It’s always best to play mins. And of course make your mistakes there. That’s how you learn. Big Wiseman guy. He’ll come around. Warriors are not repeating unless he is part of rotation. Said it from day ONE. Keep your head up big fella.
Warriors won without Wiseman last year.
It’s up to Wiseman what he does with this Gleague stint. Poole worked the hardest both mentally and physically. Wiseman has to step up and work instead of being complacent with his $40m rookie contract.
Wiseman just needs 30-35 MPG for a couple months and Kerr is too stupid to figure out how to do that. Iggy was right to sit out a few months, this team has too many players and Kerr is too clueless to know the level of talent he even has – Moody is Kawhi 2.0 and Kuminga is Lebron 2.0 and he benched them both for a 2-way player, which is just malpractice.
I’d rather pay to watch Kuminga play PG than any 2-way player on a contender. Fire Kerr.
He just won an NBA title. When most experts had them not even making the West Finals. Relax ……. it’s an 82 gm season.
This Warriors team has never been center reliant. I mean they won championships with Bogut, Looney, McGee and Pachulia. None of them are great centers and the Warriors still made it work.
Some people are putting too much stock on Wiseman. He’s nothing special.
He’s the next great center lol. Sorry you got no talent vision.
Warriors always had seven footers. Usually two or three. Last yr was first yr with no true center.
I said this Warriors team never had great centers. They won with a bunch of role players.
And I’ll notice Wiseman’s “talent” when he actually shows some.
Last yr always means you win next yr. You came up with that all by yourself …….
How boring is that. I might as well not watch any more gms……
If you can’t see Wiseman is for real. Then you just don’t really like basketball. He’s 21 and hasn’t played a full season yet. That’s called growing into your body. Men don’t get their true physique till 24. Bigs always have issues. It takes some longer to get their abilities and body working at the same time. Nagging injuries don’t help the process. Someone brought up Embiid. He’s a perfect example. Go look up his history since he was 18 yrs old. And see when he finally got it together.
Wiseman is for real. I hope the Warriors give up on him. Come to NYC .