While Klay Thompson is embarrassing his teammates and playing physical basketball in Warriors scrimmages, James Wiseman is still being limited in his rehab.
More than eight months have passed since Wiseman underwent surgery to repair his torn meniscus and he’s yet to be cleared for contact practices. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he spoke to Warriors director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celibrini on Tuesday he offered an encouraging update.
“He thought there was a chance that James would be able to start doing contact next week sometime,” Kerr told reporters before Thursday's matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Wiseman has been limited to individual work while rehabbing with Golden State and the Santa Cruz Warriors, but this is a big next step in his recovery. The 20-year-old Wiseman injured himself on April 10 landing awkwardly after a slam dunk attempt. The No. 2 overall pick averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds and 21.4 minutes per game his rookie season, while shooting 51.9 percent from the floor in 39 games.
Kerr has said that the Warriors will keep it simple for the 7-footer once he returns. Golden State will probably use him with the second unit and in a lot of pick-and-roll actions with Jordan Poole, assuming Thompson is back with the starters by then.
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Earlier this week, Warriors forward Kevon Looney said he’s happy that Thompson and Wiseman can help each other throughout their respective rehabs.
“I think it’s important to have somebody that you can kind of lean on when you’re going through a process like they’re going through,” Looney said. “I’ve been there. I’ve been through a time where I was the only one hurt and it’s kind of a lonely feeling, where you gotta just deal with your injury. You feel like it’s you vs. the world. … Having each other is always important.”
