Preview: Curry, Wiggins, Green all sitting against Utah
Preview: Curry, Wiggins, Green all sitting against Utah
James Wiseman recalled as lack of depth bites Golden State
Ready or not, here comes the youth movement for the Golden State Warriors. For tonight’s game against the Utah Jazz, the Warriors will be without all three of their top minutes-eaters. They’re also going to recall James Wiseman from his G League assignment, so it’s going to be an unusual night out for a team that has struggled out to a sad 2-10 on the road. But hey, maybe it will be fun too?
One of the concerns with the Warriors being so reliant on their core is that the cumulative regular season wear is unavoidable. With the team playing so close to the margins even when at full strength, this game tonight is one that they can’t easily afford to throw away. The bench reserves know it. Klay Thompson never needs an excuse to shoot, and the return of Wiseman makes this fairly close to a must watch anyways.
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors (13-12) at Utah Jazz (14-12)
WHEN: Wednesday, December 7th, 2022 // 6pm PDT
WATCH: NBCSBA
With trade season about to open, Wiseman gets another look
Ready or not, here we go!
As fun as it is to argue about which pretend reality would have unfolded best, the reality is that Golden State is mostly locked into this version of the team. Wiseman is extended through next season, and that seems to be the time frame against which the front office is working. Because of some uneven play and some extremely unfortunate injuries, the Wiseman project is running behind schedule.
Just a week or so after coach Steve Kerr quipped that the “NBA has a way of figuring these things out” in response to a question about Wiseman’s return, the big man has been summoned from the depths of the G League. Over the course of seven games with the Santa Cruz, he averaged 15.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in around 27 minutes per game. It’s court time that is most sorely needed for his development, so now it’s a quick look to see if it’s helped stabilize the #2 pick.
His best game in the G League was a December 2nd explosion, where he logged a massive 24 and 13 over the course of just 27 minutes. More recently, he put up a more modest stat line but one of the better plus/minus marks on the team. Yeah, single game doesn’t matter for those team-based stats, but since it has been one of the more vocal knocks on Wiseman recently, it bears pointing out.
Is this Wiseman’s last shot? I doubt it, but I’ve been wrong once or twice before. But love it or hate it, there’s been enough time for some people to have made up their mind one way or another as to if it’s going to work out or not.
Notably, because of the Byzantine NBA contracting rules, a free agent who signs with a team can't be traded for three months - or until December 15th. There are many reasons to make a roster move, but historically, this front office has been fairly shy about making mid-season moves. Even though Wiseman isn’t playing much right now, dropping him now, when his stock is at the lowest it has ever been - doesn’t seem likely.
Instead, this game has the architecture to be as close to meaningless as it’s possible to be for this team right now. Fighting to stay above .500 while leaning heavily on their veterans, this is one that is nice if you can, but hardly an expected win.
Still, at a minimum, it’s going to be a little bit fun to see Wiseman back! With Kuminga, Poole and some of the others starting to click a bit, it’s nice to get a small glimpse of the possibilities. It may not go all that well overall… but what if it does?
Prediction
Scheduled loss? Pfft. More like scheduled win!
Okay, I’ve got the postgame. Feels like the first time all year we’ve really needed Post Game Zen:
https://dubnationhq.com/p/post-game-zen-please-look-into-the?sd=pf
Sorry gang. I'm out for date night dinner. No post game thread. Apologies!