James Wiseman's roller-coaster ride of a rookie season with the Golden State Warriors came to an unceremonious end when he tore his meniscus last weekend. Wiseman underwent surgery on Thursday and is out indefinitely, leaving the start of next season in doubt.
The Warriors were already in a weird spot before this injury with Wiseman, a raw big man who barely played in college. Steve Kerr was trying to thread the needle of winning games with Stephen Curry and developing young players like Wiseman, who clearly wasn't ready to make a big impact on a contender. There's certainly an argument to be made that LaMelo Ball would have been the much better pick, but Golden State thought Wiseman was the right guy.
James Wiseman still could turn out to be a good NBA player. It's way too early to call him a bust. But if the Warriors want to maximize the rest of Curry's prime, Wiseman needs to be used as a trade chip to bring in a more proven talent, especially now that he's dealing with another setback and might not even be ready for next season when Klay Thompson is set to return.
Wiseman showed flashes during his abbreviated rookie campaign of being a two-way force who could be a dynamic pick-and-roll partner for Curry. But these were just flashes, with numerous interruptions of the rookie's season hurting his development. Kerr's usage of him wasn't always the most ideal, but there were plenty of factors in play explaining why Wiseman had such an up-and-down rookie season.
A look deeper into the numbers doesn't paint the prettiest picture for James Wiseman. The Warriors managed just 101.6 points per 100 possessions and were outscored by 8.1 points per 100 possessions in the 533 minutes Curry and Wiseman shared this season, per NBA.com. In the 1,093 minutes with Curry on the floor without Wiseman, Golden State is at a blistering 118.5 points per 100 possessions and plus-9.7 net rating.
When you toss Draymond Green into the mix, the Warriors had a 102.3 offensive rating and minus-7.3 net rating in 423 minutes with all three players on the court. Curry and Green lineups without Wiseman are producing an offensive rating over 120 and a plus-12.5 net rating.
This isn't all Wiseman's fault, of course. It's hard for young big men to come into the NBA and make a major impact right away. Again, he barely played in college and just turned 20 years old. It was never fair to expect such a raw talent to come in and help Golden State be a contender right now.
While it would be ideal to be patient with the No. 2 pick, the Warriors can't really afford to be patient given the presence of Curry, Green and then Thompson. They're trying to win now, so Golden State needs to make a win-now move to help them in the offseason, whether that's a Bradley Beal trade or something else with James Wiseman as a centerpiece.
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