With draft night less than a week away, ESPN believes the Golden State Warriors are the likely destination for James Wiseman.
James Wiseman has long been one of the NBA’s most coveted draft prospects ever since he was in high school and seems to be on the Golden State Warriors’ radar. The former #1 overall recruit in the 2019 ESPN Top 100 played just three games at Memphis after being deemed ineligible but with all of Wiseman’s attention turned towards the NBA Draft, his draft stock has not taken a hit from sitting out the 2019-20 college basketball season and is set to be one of the top picks in the draft next week.
ESPN’s NBA Draft analysts Jonathan Givony, Mike Schmitz and Kevin Pelton all put together a combined mock draft and believe James Wiseman is the clear choice for the Warriors with the #2 overall pick. They had this to say about James Wiseman and his game:
"“Wiseman ended up cementing himself as the near-consensus No. 1 player in his high school class with a strong showing on the all-star circuit in 2019. But he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA and served with a 12-game suspension — eventually leading to him leaving Memphis. He offered few answers about his abilities in the three games he did play with the Tigers. For Wiseman to be at his best, he needs to focus on being an elite rim protector, rebounder and finisher first. But transition bust-outs give him more upside than your traditional run-and-jump center.”"
This is exactly what the Warriors need to be looking for if they are to draft a center in the 2020 NBA Draft. Over the last few seasons, Golden State has not received much production from their centers and with Kevon Looney being an undersized center and more of a player they prefer coming off the bench, that leaves the Warriors with Marquese Chriss and 2019 second-round pick Alen Smailagic.
The ESPN crew compared Wiseman’s physiques to the likes of Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams and although they are completely different players, they share a lot of the same measurements. Both share almost identical wingspans and weigh in around 250 pounds. Wiseman has put a lot of work into his body as he prepares for the NBA Draft and that can be seen below:
Updated look at James Wiseman with trainer David Alexander pic.twitter.com/aKbTN5cbLD
— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) October 15, 2020
James Wiseman’s ceiling though is definitely a player like Chris Bosh who was an 11x All-Star and 2x NBA Champion with the Miami Heat. Chris Bosh was a lethal mid-range big man who could get to the rim with ease and James Wiseman has the potential to be just as good as Bosh was in transition.
All indications are pointing to the Golden State Warriors drafting James Wiseman in the 2020 NBA Draft and it should not come as a surprise on draft night to Warriors fans. While Anthony Edwards has all the tools necessary to be a superstar at the NBA level, James Wiseman fills a bigger need for the Warriors both now and long-term.