James Wiseman’s rehab continued Tuesday night in Southern California as he played with the Santa Cruz Warriors for the third time.
After getting off to a sluggish start in the first half, Wiseman asserted himself in the third quarter and finished with a fine stat line of 15 points (7-of-12 field goals), nine rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes of action.
Wiseman entered the locker room at intermission with just three points, two boards and three turnovers on 1-of-4 shooting. He struggled to grab potential rebounds and couldn’t get into the offensive flow for Santa Cruz.
Wiseman’s lone first-half bucket was an impressive and-one take to the hoop, though, and he also registered an impressive block.
The 20-year-old flipped a switch in the third quarter, though, going 5-of-6 from the field with four rebounds and a block. While Wiseman is known for being a dunking lob threat, he showcased his scoring in a variety of ways in the third quarter. He had some off-balance finishes, took his man off the dribble from the top of the key, flashed a sky hook and knocked down contested a mid-range jumper.
Perhaps Wiseman’s best play came in the fourth quarter, when he grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and hit a turnaround hook in a fluid motion.
In three contests so far, he’s averaging 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds in about 21 minutes per game while shooting 52.3 percent from the floor. Wiseman’s effort follows a 19-point, 14-rebound contest and an 18-point, six-board game. Wiseman is yet to play in an NBA contest following an 11-month rehab from a torn meniscus in right knee from last April.
If we were in November or December, the Warriors probably wouldn’t feel any pressure to keep the 20-year-old Wiseman in the G League to get minutes and develop his game, because he still looks a bit rusty despite the gaudy numbers. But the end of the regular season on April 10 is rapidly approaching and the Warriors want to find out if the 2020 No. 2 overall pick is worthy of NBA minutes.
Earlier on Tuesday, Warriors president/general manager Bob Myers said that Wiseman will likely rejoin Golden State for practice this week following the team’s contest against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. Golden State will have three off days and room for some scrimmaging heading into Sunday’s contest against the San Antonio Spurs.
"It’s kind of up in the air,” Myers said. “We’re gonna have a few days off here and practice together. We’ll see how that goes. We'll decide whether he needs another G League game or if he's ready to go and Steve will put him in the rotation. But I think we are getting to some level where – maybe it’s not Wednesday, maybe it’s not Sunday – but putting him in some NBA games and getting him some NBA minutes. If we don’t, it’s not fair to him or his teammates to just throw him in a playoff game. I don’t think that would be a good idea."
