Golden State Warriors have an unprecedented situation with Wiseman

There’s no debating that Golden State Warriors rookie James Wiseman has had an interrupted 18 months or so. After playing just three games at Memphis during his college career, the nineteen-year-old has had a myriad of issues throughout his brief career to date.

There isn’t much precedence for James Wiseman’s unique situation in his rookie campaign with the Golden State Warriors.

The 7’1″ big man tested positive for Covid-19 prior to training camp, was benched for three quarters of a game for missing a Covid test, and more recently, has missed multiple games due to the league’s health and safety protocols.

It’s been a frustrating season for Wiseman who also missed multiple games with a sprained left wrist, and has now faced queries on his game following a string of underwhelming games.

But despite these issues, Wiseman has given Warriors fans a glimpse of the future with some nice games, coupled with some spectacular individual moments. It has brought into question the Warriors’ most pressing issue as a franchise moving forward – build for the future with Wiseman, or surround Stephen Curry with talent that will help win in the short term?

Wiseman’s rookie season is unprecedented

When big decisions are made in basketball or life in general, it’s often done with the knowledge of what has come before, history to help guide and educate what is right or wrong. For Bob Myers and the Warriors front office, they aren’t afforded that luxury.

Put simply, history tells us that those who draft a talented big man in the top three aren’t focusing on winning a title in the following two to three years. If we look at this century, centers that have very good rookie seasons are almost always coupled with one fact – their team has been very poor.

Karl-Anthony Towns was excellent for the Minnesota Timberwolves during his rookie season in 2015-16, winning rookie of the year whilst averaging 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. His team finished at 29-53, 13th in the Western Conference.

Blake Griffin was even better, posting 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds in his rookie season, one which resulted in the Clippers also finishing 13th in the Western Conference.

We then have to go back to Emeka Okafor in 2004-05 to find another big man to win rookie of the year. But despite impressive numbers from Okafor, the Bobcats finished 14th in the East with an 18-64 record.

Perhaps Amar’e Stoudemire was an anomaly in his 2002-03 rookie of the year campaign, leading the Suns to eighth in the West. However, they did stumble back to 13th in the conference the following season.

The San Antonio Spurs have given Dubs the blueprint

There’s a reason this current Warriors situation has been compared to that of the San Antonio Spurs when they drafted Tim Duncan. That was truly the last time a franchise drafted a talented big whilst also having championship aspirations going into the following few seasons.

But even that isn’t an apt guide to how the Warriors should handle the Wiseman situation. Duncan was drafted at the age of 21 following an extensive and superb college career. By the time the Spurs won the 1998-99 championship in Duncan’s second season, he was 23. Wiseman on the other hand turns 20 at the end of the month.

It’s easy to be critical of the front office, that they need to make a big move or that they should have drafted LaMelo Ball ahead of Wiseman. But all along they’ve been clear, that they’re trying to thread a needle and link the present with the future.

It’s a right as fans to be critical and question decisions, but in doing so we also need to acknowledge that this is an unprecedented situation, that it may very well be the most difficult challenge any front office is currently facing throughout the NBA.