The Golden State Warriors are making it known they still have faith in 2020 No. 2 overall pick, James Wiseman and have no intention of trading him.
James Wiseman didn’t have a bad rookie season, but he didn’t quite live up to the expectations many had when the Golden State Warriors took him second overall in the 2020 NBA Draft.
The former Memphis Tiger put up averages of 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game but was limited by a meniscus injury and failed to make the All-NBA Rookie Team.
Some think Wiseman could be traded for a veteran star, but the Warriors front office is making it crystal clear that’s not on the table at this stage.
According to reports by NBC’s Josh Schrock, the Warriors still believe Wiseman has unlimited potential and will be an important piece of their plans next season.
“We’re still really excited about him, really high on him,” Warriors assistant general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. told 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny, Guru and Dibs” on Tuesday. “Obviously, he won’t be able to do as much stuff as we hoped he could with Summer League and individual workouts and things like, but when we draft James we knew about his long-term potential and that hasn’t changed one bit. We are really excited for him.
“Now, it’s just a matter of how do we fit him into the fold with our other veteran players that we have? You mentioned the needs that we need and we need a guy who can space the floor vertically. So to have a lob threat like James, that is exactly what we need. We’re going to get that back and hopefully a lot more with him.”
Even further, the team has not entertained any serious talks of trading their 20-year-old center, who should be motivated heading into his sophomore campaign. So you can put to bed any notion of Wiseman being used in a package to trade for Ben Simmons.
Warriors not looking to trade James Wiseman
Speculation around Wiseman being a potential trade asset primarily circles around the desire to put a championship-caliber supporting cast around Stephen Curry, who is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. Curry is 33-years-old and not getting any younger, so naturally, the team wants to capitalize while he’s still in his prime.
Getting Klay Thompson back from injury would certainly help, and there are important moves ahead for the Warriors this offseason to complement the roster around Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green.
The Warriors have a pair of lottery picks (No. 7 and No. 14) that could be used in a trade package for a veteran, however, trading away a young center who the team believes has promising potential is not one of them.