Five reasons Wiseman has impressed Warriors in rookie year
It hasn’t been a perfect rookie season for No. 2 overall draft pick James Wiseman.But considering all the challenges of an abbreviated college career and losing out on his first NBA training camp with the Warriors, Wiseman’s place as one of the top-performing rookies in the league stands out.He still is learning to play defense at the pro level and all the intricacies of an NBA offense. But coach Steve Kerr and Wiseman’s teammates repeatedly have emphasized how much more room for growth the 19-year-old has.Let’s look deeper into five areas where Wiseman has impressed both Warriors fans and those within the organization in his rookie season.
At 7-foot-1, Wiseman was viewed as a potentially elite rim protector in the NBA. But younger centers who always have been the biggest and strongest players sometimes have a hard time adjusting to the skill of the NBA, and too often go for the big block and rack up fouls.
Wiseman still has an issue with fouling at times, but as he showed during a pair of games against the Minnesota Timberwolves this week, he’s already developing a solid ability to not only block shots with ease, but utilize verticality to repel drives to the basket without fouling.
He leads all rookies with 1.4 blocks per game, and his general ability to learn defensive alignments and rotations in a complex NBA system has shown through in his first 18 games.
Wiseman attempted just one 3-pointer in his three college games at Memphis. Limited highlights throughout the pre-draft process showed he had some range, but no one really expected him to be a consistent option for the Warriors from the perimeter.
The rookie connected on all three of his attempts from deep in Wednesday’s win over Minnesota and is shooting 42.9 percent on 3-pointers this season, better than just about every player in the Warriors’ main rotation outside of Damion Lee (.431).
Kerr has said he wants Wiseman to shoot, but only when he has the “right” look. But since he took over as head coach, the Warriors haven’t featured a stretch five who can draw centers away from the basket. If Wiseman continues to fine-tune his touch from behind the arc and gradually brings up his attempts with similar accuracy, he could add an element we’ve never seen to Kerr’s lineup.
Even as the game has evolved in recent years, we still rarely see big men running point or dribbling the ball up and down the court with regularity. There are exceptions like Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokic, but players near 7-feet with a handle remain a rare commodity.
Wiseman’s ability to go coast-to-coast, which he already has done several times in his rookie season, might be the most impressive thing about the 19-year-old’s game to date. For a player that size, who likely wasn’t playing much point guard or dribbling frequently in high school, to handle the way he does is something that must have Kerr and the Warriors’ coaching staff elated about Wiseman's prospects.
The Warriors likely knew he wasn’t a total novice when it came to dribbling consistently, but they have to be impressed by what they’ve seen in the open court from Wiseman so far.
For a teenager who is just above 20 games removed from playing in high school, Wiseman’s maturity has shown through both when he’s on the court and during availability with the media.
Wiseman has handled all the successes and struggles of his first season in the league with grace, not batting an eye when Draymond Green was ejected after an official mistook his yelling at the rookie with berating the referee.
Missing out on almost the entirety of his first training camp and battling with some of the NBA’s best big men hasn’t fazed Wiseman, which should speak volumes for the mental aspects of Wiseman’s game.
The Warriors’ offense as a whole has come along slowly with so many new faces in the rotation, but Wiseman has played well both as a starter and coming off the bench.
Wiseman ranks third among all NBA rookies in Player Efficiency Rating (per Basketball-Reference), behind LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton. We’ve already highlighted his 3-point shooting, but Wiseman has a solid 54.9 effective field goal percentage and has been a consistent lob threat out of the pick and roll.
There are still aspects of his game Wiseman needs to smooth out, but there seemingly is unlimited potential for the rookie as he continues to grow and develop within the Warriors’ system.
