Golden State Warriors: Laying out James Wiseman’s offensive expectations

After missing the entirety of his second season through injury, former number two overall pick James Wiseman heads into 2022-23 as a major unknown. But provided you have conservative and reasonable expectations for the 21-year-old, then his effectiveness, at least offensively, should be easy to gauge as the Golden State Warriors season progresses.

James Wiseman is set for a more simplified role for the Golden State Warriors, one he should thrive in should he do the basics well.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Wiseman and the basics haven’t always gone hand-in-hand. While he can make plays that few in the league can, it was the simple things that held him back in his rookie season – a simple dropped pass, a missed defensive assignment, or a poor box out on a defensive rebound.

As a rookie, he was able to explore his offensive abilities, but in a championship-contending team, some of the skills need to be shelved for further down the line. Wiseman’s role should be nothing more than dunks and layups, sprinkled with the odd three-point attempt should he make them at a reasonable clip.

He shot 75.4% from the restricted area in his rookie season – a fine and expected percentage for any NBA center. But the team won’t manage with his rate of shots from the remainder of the paint (31.3%), nor the mid-range area (33.3%).

They’re not surprising numbers for a developing big man in his rookie season, even Evan Mobley was below 40% from those spots in 2021-22. But again, Steve Kerr and the coaching staff won’t tolerate those numbers. If Wiseman can’t prove physical enough to finish his baby hooks consistently, then that’s a worrying sign. As for the mid-range jump shots, expect them to become extinct for the time being.

Wiseman averaged one three-point attempt in his rookie season, a rate that feels about right for this season as well. This issue is that a quarter of these came on pull-up attempts where he shot 25% – if he takes a pull-up attempt in a genuine non-garbage time situation, then that should border on an automatic benching.

We should also see Wiseman in a corner spot-up position every now and then – it’s nothing major right now given the Warriors don’t have many players that create enormous rim pressure, but if he does want to play alongside Kuminga in the future, then spacing out and not clogging the lane is a good facet to have. Furthermore, it’s theoretically an easier three-point shot to make, perhaps allowing Wiseman to shoot a greater percentage after

Overall, it’s pick-and-rolls that result in shots in the restricted area, mixed with the odd pick-and-pop. Everything else, which should be the majority, comes from running the floor hard, putback dunks or taking advantage of his teammate’s gravitational pull.

It’s a fairly simplified role for Wiseman, even if the Warriors’ offensive system isn’t. Can he get up to speed in time to be a genuine backup center come playoff time? We should get a keen sense of that by the All-Star break.