The Golden State Warriors won't be with James Wiseman for the rest of the season as the second-year big man continues to recover from his knee injury.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Wiseman has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign in order to further rehabilitate his injured right knee. Wiseman underwent surgery last April 2021 to address the meniscus tear in his knee, and he has been out ever since.

There were high hopes that James Wiseman would be able to play at some point this season and contribute for the Dubs in their playoff run. He has even made significant progress in his recovery, as highlighted by the fact that he was able to join the Warriors' G League affiliate in a game recently.

All signs pointed towards an eventual return to the Golden State lineup sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, he hit a setback and was shut down temporarily by the team. Now, it looks like the issue is serious enough for the Dubs to effectively rule him out.

As Woj noted, Golden State is erring on the side of caution when it comes to the injury of the youngster. And since he is considered a cornerstone of their future, they are trying to protect him from getting significant damage on his knee.

With a meniscal repair, you are at the mercy of how your body is going to react to that. Nobody in their right mind would push through with that in a young kid. We certainly wouldn’t do that early in his career,” Warriors general manager Bob Meyers said recently when they temporarily shut down Wiseman.

Wiseman's absence is definitely a brutal blow to a Warriors team that is severely lacking in size. They are popular for their small ball lineup for sure, but it has been made clear to them that they need a big man who can help them contend with teams who boast superstar talent at the center spot like the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks. Having Wiseman would have certainly increased their chances of winning the title once again.

For now, though, the Dubs have to find a way to address their glaring weakness at the center spot.