Golden State Warriors: 3 Takeaways from James Wiseman’s rookie season

2. Wiseman is a better shooter than we thought

If natural athleticism and mobility were James Wiseman’s strong suits in college and high school – shooting the ball was his weakness. Thankfully, he’s been a pleasant surprise from outside of the paint.

Wiseman rarely attempted any shots from outside of 10 feet but he displayed a bit of range from time to time. He finished the year shooting 12-of-38 from the 3-point line for an underwhelming 31.6 percent success rate. But, for whatever it’s worth, this gave him the third-most 3-pointers of any center in his class.

For most of the season, Wiseman was hovering around 40 percent as a 3-point shooter. Then, a 2-for-15 stretch caused his efficiency to plummet. While this shooting slump is a valid reason for criticism, it should be noted that most of us didn’t expect Wiseman to shoot the 3-pointer at all in his rookie season.

We aren’t going to give out participation awards – Wiseman doesn’t deserve praise simply for shooting open shots that the defense is willing to give up. Nonetheless, it’s an inspiring sign that he’s attempting to grow in this department and has kicked his career off to a decent start from deep.

For reference, the current league average for 3-point shooting is 36.6 percent (Which is actually the third highest it’s ever been). It’s obvious Wiseman has some catching up to do in order to even be average, but he’s not that far behind. Certainly not as far back as we thought he would be at this stage.