James Wiseman may be nearing an NBA comeback, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr thinks immediate expectations for the second-year center should be limited.
Kerr joined 95.7 The Game’s “Damon & Ratto” Friday for his weekly appearance to discuss Wiseman’s progress, how the team is setting up for the playoffs and more. You can listen to the full interview below:
On Friday, the Warriors reassigned Wiseman to Santa Cruz of the G League, allowing him to get some scrimmage work for the second time in three days. Wiseman is still working back from a torn meniscus in his right knee he suffered on April 10 of last year. The 20-year-old also scrimmaged with Golden State on Wednesday and could rejoin his NBA teammates as soon as Saturday for another practice.
Over the coming days, it seems Wiseman’s next logical step could be G League game action, as Kerr said the Warriors are keeping an open mind about his rehab. The Warriors (43-17) have 22 games left in the regular season before the finale on April 10 and are sitting as the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed.
“The expectations should not be too high for him this year, given how good our team is and where we are as a franchise,” Kerr told hosts Ray Ratto and Whitey Gleason (filling in for Damon Bruce). “He’s going to be a really good player for us for a long time to come – we’re look at that as being the next 10 or 15 years and that’s great. For people to expect something right now is a little far-fetched. He barely has any experience and he’s just getting back from his injury and he’s a young guy. Just give it time and it’ll happen for him.”
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The Warriors have been steadily patient throughout the whole process. They clearly have the long game in mind when it comes to Wiseman’s career and see no point in rushing him back. Still, adding a talented 7-footer for the stretch run of the season is sure to bring some expectations, especially when he was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Anthony Edwards, the 2020 top pick, and LaMelo Ball, the 2020 No. 3 pick, look well on their way to stardom already. Perhaps Kerr is just doing some pre-damage control.
At this point, we might as well lump Wiseman in with this year’s rookies. For reference, Wiseman has played in 39 NBA games compared to 48 for Jonathan Kuminga and 35 for Moses Moody.
Kerr said Wiseman looked good in Friday’s scrimmage as he got to get up and down the floor against some G Leaguers.
“He got his first, real extended scrimmage today,” Kerr said. “He looked good and is feeling good. That’s the main thing. Now it’s just day-to-day. We’ll see how he’s doing and progress from there.”
