by Myers calls Wiseman’s rocky Dubs career a ‘cutthroat business’ originally featured on NBC Sports Bayarea
James Wiseman’s place in Steve Kerr’s system remains a conundrum Warriors fans have been trying to solve for three seasons now, but none are as confused as he is.
The 6-foot-tall center has played in just 19 of Golden State’s 51 games so far, averaging 6.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 12.7 minutes.
After Kerr had a one-on-one chat with his big man and teammates like Andrew Wiggins tried to help keep Wiseman’s head up, Warriors general manager Bob Myers assessed the situation.
“Do I want successful good people who I interact with every day, who do the right thing and are good people? Absolutely,” Myers said on 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru” on Wednesday. “But it’s a cutthroat business. It’s not like you can just do it. I’d put you on the team, Guru. able to play.
“For James in particular, unfortunately, the times he maybe could have played, he got injured. It was hard. But the path of any young player is mostly not clean. There are obstacles to it.
After recovering from a torn right meniscus that sidelined him for the end of the 2021-22 season, Dub Nation and the rest of the NBA world anticipated and hoped that this would be the year we got a great season by the former number 2 overall pick.
He was a regular appearance for the Dubs in the first 10 games of the season, averaging 7.3 points on 60.4% shooting and 4.0 rebounds in 13.8 minutes.
Wiseman scored a career-high 30 points on impressive 12-of-14 shooting against the Brooklyn Nets on December 21, but then sprained his ankle the next week during a 3-on-3 scrum.
He hasn’t played for the Warriors since, missing the last 15 games. He has played 10 games this season with the Warriors G-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
After bouncing back and forth between the NBA and the G League, Wiseman felt helpless and lost.
“James will have an opportunity at some point,” Myers assured. “He has to be ready for this. We are a [Kevon] Looney ankle turn or Draymond [Green injury away]. Actually we only have JaMychal and James. Especially the way we’re playing right now.
“We don’t play Draymond and Looney together a lot. So, you can see the exposition there if something happens. I don’t want anything to happen to anyone, but it could easily be a situation James is involved in. He needs to be ready to play.
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While Myers said he too “feels bad” for the players, whether it’s Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga or Moses Moody — whose playing minutes have all fluctuated this season — he remains hopeful things will work out.
Patience, repetitions and health: Wiseman’s time will come.
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