James Wiseman is finally healthy and certainly looks to be making the most of it.
The 21-year-old’s presence at the Warriors' team facility this summer is proof of that, as president of basketball operations and general manager Bob Myers pointed out to reporters on Thursday.
“But the good news is, he’s played a lot this summer, and every day, [in] my opinion, he seems to be getting a little bit better every day,” Myers said. “And he can’t do that if he’s not healthy, but he’s been healthy.
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“We track kind of the pickup games, and he’s the only one in the facility that played in every one, which is nice.”
Myers said it best when he noted Wiseman’s journey since being drafted No. 2 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by Golden State has been anything but simple, from COVID to injuries halting his development.
Now, after recovering from a torn meniscus in his right knee suffered in April 2021, Wiseman enters training camp for the 2022-23 season fully healthy for the first time in his young NBA career. And Myers believes the fact that Wiseman was at every pickup game leading up to camp’s start says a lot about the young Warrior.
“A lot of guys are like, ‘I don’t want to play today. I’m tired.’ So it shows work ethic but also a health component that he didn’t miss anything,” Myers said. “There’s no swelling. Happy that he’s healthy. Now he can start the work … It’s really about defining his role, putting him in positions to succeed.”
Golden State Warriors
Surrounded by a roster filled with championship DNA, Wiseman is in one of the best positions for a young player to succeed. Myers is hoping the third-year pro continues to improve at reading coverages and understanding schemes as training camp gets underway, and he knows it will take some time for Wiseman to reach his full potential.
But making sure he was present at every pickup game this summer
“[It] even took Wiggins, who was healthy, if we are being honest, a couple years to learn how to play with our guys and looked like it finally clicked last season,” Myers said. “It’s not a system -- some players can drop right into it, but many, it takes a little while to figure out.”
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After plenty of waiting, Wiseman’s time to figure it out is now.
And the Warriors certainly are encouraged by what they’ve seen from him so far.