I don’t think it’s hard at all to see his regression over the past month and being forced to earn minutes is normally an effective path toward making leaps. From Wiseman’s draft class, LaMelo Ball overcame as much (I’d argue much more but being generous here) and already has an ASG under his belt. That’s what development looks like…..not being banished to the G-League in Year 3 after a healthy offseason while being given opportunities to earn rotation minutes and failing.
LaMelo is a much better player than Wiseman and the Warriors would be better off if they took LaMelo, but their paths to being drafted and early stages of their career are so wildly different it isn't worth comparing the two. LaMelo had some zany stuff happen to him in high school, but he also played a full year of pro ball in Australia, then got drafted by a bad team that was happy to play him a ton of minutes, and never had any major injuries.
There's no way to other way to characterize the situation than this. Markelle Fultz had shown far more by this point in his career, and has similar prospects going forward.
That's the situation now; how predictive it is different question, one that can't be definitively answered right now. Fwiw, the characterization you bolded also applies to Jordan Poole's second healthy season, at the same age (and probably to a bunch of other guys; JP is just fresh in my mind, for obvious reasons). Fultz seems like a particularly poor comp, given Wiseman is not a 6'-3" PG who cannot shoot, nor (AFAIK) has he had any Sax/Sasser-ian issues with performance anxiety. He's just a huge, raw, athletic dude who needs to get used to the speed and patterns of the game, and has nowhere near the needed reps in which to do so. I'd be shocked if he ends up a superstar, but given his size, athleticism, and (reportedly) high character and work ethic, I don't think a career somewhere in the Myles Turner / Ayton / JaVale range is that unreasonable to ponder.
Just to follow up on this opening night post: according to this ranking, the difference between the number one team (Boston) and the number two team (Denver) is larger than the difference between the number two team and the number eight team. And Dallas is ninth.
His career isn't over (Darko played for 10 years), but I don't see the Poole comp, beyond that they are both Warrior 1st round picks who played in the G league. Injury or no, there's a big difference between year 2 and year 3. Additionally the Warriors didn't have a pressing need for Poole at that time - Curry was back and playing at an MVP level, but the team didn't look like a title contender. They absolutely need young size right now (and hope to compete for a title), and Wiseman is falling flat on his face. Fultz isn't a comp, other than both guys looking like massive draft busts. Comparing Wiseman to Poole (or Looney) kind of misses the point - if Wiseman had been drafted with the 29th overall pick instead of the 2nd, nobody would bat an eye on this, because we'd know his odds of being in the NBA in 5 years are 50-50 at best. Those guys beat the odds, guys sent down to the G league in year 3 don't have a great track record.
I’ve been saying since they were 0-4 that this is a good team. Fox came into the season in shape for first time since pre-Covid, probably about 12-15 lbs lighter than last year at this time. The Sabonis pickup last year and adding Huerter were two huge holes filled while the 4th pick was landing a young starter no matter who they selected.
Still boggles my mind that Simmons continues to be played out of position. One of the better passers, playmakers and creators with the ball…..hey, let’s play him off the ball. Head hurts trying to comprehend.
He’s never not been a Top-25 player in the league when playing on the ball. I don’t think he’ll get back there as his game/body/passion never evolved and others have passed him but if you want to optimize his production…..play to his strengths rather than minimizing his strengths.
The key distinction being that Looney was the 30th pick in the draft, not the 2nd, with an average salary of 1.2M, not 9.9M.
Slater and Kevon made the comparison, not me. There is no debating the "bust" label for Golden State - the only point is that he may still be a very good player down the road. Its not a base case and it his present unproductive state sucks for the Warriors for a variety of reasons.
Wiseman said upon reporting to the G-League that he doesn’t view this as a demotion. Yeah he doesn’t seem to get it.
I thought Nesmith might thrive, or at least find his footing, in another setting where the expectations for the team weren't as high. Apparently I was wrong.
Love where they’re headed. Shai is a star. Giddey was a nice pick. Poky seems to be getting better. Jalen Williams already playing meaningful minutes. Chet comes back next year along with likely another lotto pick. And they have a million picks coming in the next few years along with tons of cap space.
Their second best player turning out to be a wife-beater and probably never playing again will do that.
He needs to meditate or something. His mental game is so fried. It’s hard not to feel bad for him given how hard he seems to be trying. This isn’t James Young, or some other flameout. He really appears to be putting in the work and it’s bearing nothing.
Will need more than that to pull this one out unless they start playing defense. What a shit show they are down that end.
They do have a lot to hope on. I'm afraid that Giddey might never turn into a good player, but Poku is surprising me with his improvement already. If Chet is for real, with all of their picks, they could turn into something real.
The way their youth has dropped in value, I don't think they can afford him anymore (if they ever could).
NBA season is so long , they'll sort some of this out but Steph is carrying a heavy load.
What would make you feel Giddey will never turn into a good player? He just had one of the best 19-yr old seasons we’ve ever seen against grown men. What’s his floor…..a rich man’s Rubio?….and that’s only if he goes on the Ben Simmons developmental curve.
That goes both ways though: Dubs unprotected picks/swaps are extremely valuable because the youth movement looks so bad.
At what point does OKC turn some of those picks into a high-level veteran or two to complement the kiddie corps? Isn't that, or shouldn't it be, the next step?
DRAY + Moody + Wiseman + Kuminga + picks/swaps galore for DURANT works in the trade machine
Yup. That’s the next step, which is probably the hardest part. They have their foundational star. They now need a secondary star or quasi-star, preferably one who can help shoulder the scoring load. I think they’ll start to look for that as soon as this offseason since they’re already showing meaningful growth.
Dray on the Nets with Kyrie and Ben would be something to see. He might kill them both halfway through the first practice.
Charlotte actually drafted SGA, and then swapped him to the Clips for Miles Bridges [the wife-beater]. Sometimes, the best moves are the ones you don't make....
Wait, stop. You don’t think Bridges will ever play in the league again? That’s a pretty hot take, no?
From a scouting POV, kid has everything. But honestly, he got a lot of run on this team (as he should) and is flat in most areas and getting worse in many. His handle is so sloppy that he makes Jaylen look like Shammgod with the ball. His shooting has improved a little, but it's still bad. Maybe his bad defense has more to do with his surroundings than anything, but it's bad.
The thing about acquiring young players, they don't automatically lose value if they are traded for Durant. Unless they are really far out, future GS picks immediately become far less valuable if traded for Durant. Both Durant and Curry are signed through 2026, maybe they age quickly but any picks between now and then aren't worth nearly enough to be a big part of a Durant deal.
Sure--I'm assuming it would mostly be picks 2025 and later. Assuming that Durant and Curry decline heavily 3 years from now seems a safe bet, historically.
Even assuming that's the case, the Nets can probably do a lot better Poole/Wiggins/Picks (which is basically the most they could be willing to offer).
