James Wiseman is set to make his Detroit Pistons debut on Wednesday at the Boston Garden against the Celtics.
The former No. 2 pick for the Warriors in 2020 will have the opportunity to get a fresh start on his career at the age of 21. For the first time since being dealt from Golden State, Wiseman spoke to Pistons reporters on Tuesday to describe what the last few days have been like.
“The last few days were crazy for me, honestly,” Wiseman said, via Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “Get off the plane, just doing my physical and stuff. It was a lot. Then it happened with the trade situation and stuff like that, but I just tried to stay present, take it one day at a time and embrace everything.”
The trade, which was agreed upon on Thursday’s deadline day, hit a bit of a snag once Gary Payton II failed his physical with the Warriors, but Golden State pushed the trade through on Sunday. Wiseman said he was focused on being with the Pistons.
“I was super confident,” Wiseman said. “I’m just bracing the opportunity here. It’s a new start for me, I’m just embracing everything.”
Wiseman played in just 60 games during his first two-plus seasons with the Warriors, as his rookie year was cut short due to a meniscus injury that also wiped out his sophomore season. This year, he played in the first 10 games of the season before falling out of coach Steve Kerr’s rotation.
“Everybody here loved James,” Kerr told reporters Tuesday. “Between the injuries and the inexperience, coming to a team like ours that’s fighting for championships and playing with a group that has been together a long time, it was just difficult for me to give James the runway that he needed. He was great every single day he came to work, great attitude, positive spirit. He’s everything you look for in a young player in terms of his approach and talent, but timing was difficult in terms of what he needed and where we are as a franchise.”
Likewise, Klay Thompson said he had some mixed emotions with the trade. When he was rehabbing his Achilles in 2021, Wiseman was rehabbing his meniscus. They spent a lot of days in the dungeon together.
“It was really hard,” Klay said of the trade. “So happy Gary’s back, but at the same it hurts when one of your friends goes somewhere else. Me and Wise spent so much time together, especially that summer of 2021. We were the only ones in here for about a month and a half, with (director of sports medicine and performance) Rick Celebrini. We hung out a lot, I’m gonna really miss him. I know he’s gonna do incredibly well in Detroit. He’s got so much potential and so much great basketball ahead of him.”
Marc Stein of Andscape reported shortly after the trade that the Pistons plan to start Wiseman. We’ll see how his playing time shakes out with other young big men like Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, but Wise will certainly have an opportunity to play, fail and grow with his new franchise.
“I’m super excited,” Wiseman said. “ At the end of the day, basketball is basketball wherever I go, wherever anybody goes. I’m just staying humble, putting in work, staying true to myself and really just trusting the process for everything.”
