Even Joe Lacob can’t help but notice the similarities between James Wiseman’s tenure with the Warriors and Trey Lance’s tenure with the 49ers.
The Warriors owner recently joined Tim Kawakami of The Athletic for his “TK Show” podcast and discussed a wide range of topics, including the Wiseman-Lance parallels.
"We can't sit here and deny it. It had some similarities, no question," Lacob said. "Both were traded in Year 3, right? I think I got that right. Both were the second pick in the draft, the third pick in the draft. Clearly, both sustained injuries at very bad times in their development and missed kind of a whole year, or close to it. It's very unfortunate.”
There are (at least) four different factors in the Wiseman-Lance comparisons.
First are the draft positions, as the Warriors drafted Wiseman No. 2 overall in 2020 after going through an injury-plagued 2019-20 season and finishing with the league’s worst record. The Niners used three first-round picks and a third-rounder to move up to take Lance No. 3 overall in 2021.
Then there’s the issue of a lack of college experience. Despite the immense physical tools both players possess – Wiseman an athletic 7-footer and Lance a dual-threat quarterback who could do it all – neither guy got a lot of playing time after their respective high school careers. Wiseman appeared in just three college games for Memphis while Lance got 19 games in with FCS North Dakota State.
Both players also suffered injuries, as Lance’s rookie season was marred by a broken finger and knee issue before his second season was wiped out in Week 2 with a knee/ankle injury, while Wiseman dealt with COVID-19 and a torn meniscus over his two-plus season tenure with the team.
Finally, both the Warriors and 49ers ran out of time to develop the projects, as the squads feel like they have to compete and win now. The Warriors were able to flip Wiseman in to Gary Payton II before this year’s trade deadline, while the Niners acquired a fourth-round pick for Lance.
A swift end for the promising prospects, for sure.
"For whatever reason, circumstances do dictate success in a career sometimes, it's not always about the talent,” Lacob said. “Sometimes 9t's the circumstances of the team you're with and the timing of that team, and who the other players are on that team, and salary structures. There's all kinds of things that enter it. But yeah, there's a lot of similarities, I couldn't help but notice."
So it’s not just you, Bay Area sports fans. Lacob sees it too.
"There's just a lot of similarities, and unfortunately with sports these days, we just don't always have the long lead time and pathway to wait for every player to develop,” Lacob said. “Maybe these guys go somewhere else and become great somewhere else. I mean, it's possible."
