The Warriors announced Friday that James Wiseman was reassigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G League, as the second-year center continues to get daily work in his comeback attempt.
According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, Wiseman’s addition to the roster was for the purpose of joining Friday’s practice and/or scrimmage session in San Francisco with the Sea Dubs. Santa Cruz is scheduled to host the Birmingham Squadron Saturday, but Wiseman could well be back with Golden State by then practicing with his NBA teammates.
While it might not be game action for Wiseman, the Warriors are eager to see Wiseman getting consistent high-speed contact reps over the coming days. The 20-year-old looked spry in the short video clips shared by the Warriors during Wednesday’s scrimmage in Portland. Kerr said Wiseman would take part in Thursday’s shootaround in Portland and he could be hitting the floor hard again Friday with Santa Cruz.
"He's a beast when you look at him on the floor," Steph Curry said Thursday. "Especially with the rest of our team with how quote-unquote 'undersized' we are. He does stand out and can do some amazing things."
Wiseman tore the meniscus in his right knee on April 10 last year and is yet to appear in a game for Golden State in his sophomore season. Wiseman had two previous stints this year with Santa Cruz (recall dates on Nov. 28 and Dec. 11) but underwent a minor knee procedure in December that appears to have slowed his return timeline. Recently, Wiseman told reporters he's happy to see a "light at the end of the tunnel."
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The Warriors cleared Wiseman for 5-on-5 contact shortly before the All-Star break. It would make sense to give him some game action with Santa Cruz to get his legs before joining the NBA fray as teams jockey for playoff position. Once Wiseman gets into a game, though, you’d have to think he’s right on the precipice of an NBA return. The Sea Dubs are scheduled to play seven times between now and March 10 in Santa Cruz and Stockton, so there’d be plenty of opportunities for Wiseman to get run if he’s cleared for G League game action soon.
We could be just weeks away from Wiseman’s much-anticipated reintegration with Golden State and they could use his size as a valuable role player off the bench. It might be a bit much to think he can evolve into a starter by playoff-time, even if his recovery goes smooth over the next couple of weeks. But if Wiseman can give the Warriors a rim protector, lob threat and can keep opposing defenses honest in screen situations, they’d absolutely love it.
