11:27 PM ET
-
Kendra Andrews ESPN
LAS VEGAS — As Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Cuminga began to attack the hoop, he hooked the ball over his head to find a cutting James Wiseman. In one motion, Wiseman caught the ball in the air and threw down a dunk.
It was the first possession of the Warriors’ summer league game against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday and was Wiseman’s first bucket since March, when he played in three G League games.
A minute after his dunk, he knocked down his only 3-pointer of the night.
1 Connected
“It felt good,” Wiseman said. “There’s a lot to work on, I mean my time has been pretty torn up. But it was my first game. I had fun there.”
Prior to his brief stint in the G League, Wiseman had not played since April 2021 when he tore his right meniscus.
Wiseman played four four-minute shots at the start of each quarter in his summer league debut, an 86-85 win over the Spurs. He returned for the game’s final three minutes — something Wiseman said he was more than comfortable with. In his 19 minutes, Wiseman finished with 11 points on 6-of-7 shooting, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks.
In Wiseman’s eyes, the areas where his timing was off were screen setups and reading patterns.
“To be able to come out and play in a summer league game like today with good composure and playing at the rim, blocking some shots, he just looked like a really good basketball player,” Warriors summer league coach Jama Mahalela said. “That first outing is everything we wanted and told him to go out, have fun, enjoy the game and let it come to him.”
There were flashes of Wiseman’s athleticism throughout the night – highlighted by his dunk and blocks. He ran the field well and wasn’t afraid to play physical.
“It was physical. It’s a huge adjustment,” Wiseman said. “I’ve been out there so I’ve been doing a lot of individual training. So to get that push, that physical contact, I’m proud to be there.”
His return has provided the Warriors with something they’ve lacked so far during summer league: true size and presence in the paint. And that’s something Golden State could use more of.
But the Warriors want him to use his size more on the boards. As soon as the game ended, Wiseman went to Mahlalela and told him he knew he had to take more than two rebounds like he did against Spurs.
“[It’s really about] staying alert, staying aggressive and just going to take it,” Wiseman said. “The ball really wasn’t coming to me a lot, but I was trying to take as much as I could.”
The Warriors are emphasizing a focus on fundamentals for Wiseman through training camp. No matter what, that will be a big part of his role in Golden State during the regular season.
But now that they’ve actually seen Wiseman play, the Warriors can start planning how they want to use the 7-foot center.
“Until he starts playing, we don’t know what we have. You don’t know what you’re dealing with,” Mahlalela told ESPN. “Hopefully by the first week of August we’ll have a much clearer plan of what he needs to work on in August and training camp.”
Mahlalela also thinks they’ll learn some of that by the end of summer league, depending on how many more games Wiseman plays.
The initial plan is for Wiseman to play in Tuesday’s game against the Boston Celtics, along with Kuminga and Moses Moody. Monday’s practice will be a light work day for Wiseman — which the Warriors try to do after every “hard day.”
How much more Wiseman plays after that is up in the air. But at this point, just one game under Wiseman is the most important thing for Golden State.
“Coming into the locker room after the game and all the players cheering for him, I think he can say, ‘Ah, I can breathe again,'” Mahalela told ESPN. “Every conversation I have with him is that I’m proud of you, but now the real work begins.”
Wiseman responded with, “Okay, Coach.”
Add Comment