Bob Myers: Warriors want ‘consistent success’ for James Wiseman
When grading the rookie campaign by James Wiseman, the results have been mixed, but that is likely to be expected considering the circumstances surrounding the 2020-21 season.
Of course, Wiseman missed the start of training camp after reportedly testing positive for the coronavirus. He missed 11 games due to a wrist injury, and was even disciplined recently after mistakenly skipping a COVID-19 test over the All-Star break.
Then, he missed three more games last week due to health and safety protocols.
The expectation of a rookie player is there will be ups and downs and plenty of in-between throughout a given season. While Wiseman has proven to be no different, the second overall pick has shown flashes of his potential on the court.
Warriors president Bob Myers on Friday spoke with reporters following the trade deadline at length about Wiseman, and detailed what the organization is seeking from him this season.
There are a lot of things that I like. There are some things he clearly needs to work on. There are some things that we can help him (with) and there are some things he can help himself. That’s the partnership we have with a player like that. It’s their buy-in, it’s our commitment. Then it culminates and when it culminates is different for everybody. We all want it now. I’m sure James wants it now. Very few players get it right away. So, we’ll see.
It’s going to be a road and he is going to have to be an active participant in it and the good news is he is. He loves basketball, he cares. You can see it in his body language. He is a really wonderful kid and he wants it and that’s what you bank on with someone like that with that kind of raw talent that they’ll put the work in, and he does put the work in. The progression for him will be consistent success. That’s the mark of a really, really good player and that’s what we’re striving for.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr announced this week that Wiseman will likely start at center for the rest of the season in an effort to get him consistent playing time. He had played inconsistent minutes to this point but the team wants to get him out on the court more.
Wiseman, of course, hardly played in college at Memphis and is still just two years removed from high school so the organization knows there will be a learning curve. He has shown some moments of brilliance and that should give the team hope for the future.
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