Usually Summer League action isn’t appointment television. Tuesday night’s contest might be an exception for Dub Nation.
The young trio of James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody is expected to play together for the first time on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. PT on ESPN 2.
ESPN's Kendra Andrews tweeted Tuesday afternoon that Moody should be available after sitting out Sunday's game with a stomach bug.
Tuesday will mark the third out of five Vegas Summer League contests for the Warriors. Wiseman and Kuminga played together in Sunday’s close win for the Warriors against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Warriors are hoping that Wiseman, Kuminga, Moody and established fourth-year shooting guard Jordan Poole can form the team’s next nucleus. All of the players are 22 or younger. With the emergence of Poole, Kuminga and Moody last season, we can already see it starting to take shape. That’s why Wiseman’s return has been so highly anticipated in Las Vegas.
Wiseman looked fluid in his first game action in four months Sunday as he continues to try and overcome the right meniscus he tore in April 2021. He’s an athletic 7-foot center who could co-exist with Kuminga and Moody on the wings and Poole leading the backcourt. You can imagine that Wiseman and Poole could be a killer pick-and-roll combo for years to come, but that’s for the fall.
Wiseman, the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting with two rebounds and two blocks in about 20 minutes of action on Sunday. The fact he is scheduled to play two games in three days is also a good sign of how his knee is progressing. Kuminga dropped 28 points on 10-of-22 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists while leading the Dubs to a close win Sunday.
"He makes all of our job's easier," Kuminga said of Wiseman, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "A lot easier. ... Just having him rolling like that, it's going to open up the paint. If I don't get the ball, he's going to get the ball. I feel like throughout the season, we might run it a lot like that with [Steph Curry]. It's just going to open up the floor more."
Moody, the No. 14 overall pick in 2021, wowed in Friday night’s game, scoring 34 points on just 13 field goals (eight makes) as he made 15-of-17 free throws.
If you let the imagination run wild, you can see it now. Poole shaking defenders and splashing, Kuminga and Moody and Wiseman wreaking havoc on the wings and Wiseman dominating the block down low. Tuesday’s game could be our first insight into the future.
It appears there is no news on 2022 first-rounder Patrick Baldwin Jr., who is currently rehabbing an ankle injury and yet to appear in the Summer League for the Warriors since being drafted No. 28 overall.
