Despite rumors that he might be ready to return at the start of March, Warriors center James Wiseman remains sidelined for now. He’s with Golden State on the four-game road trip that begins tonight so that he can practice and scrimmage with the team, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who tweets that head coach Steve Kerr continues to take a “day-to-day” approach with Wiseman’s rehab. There’s still no target date for his season debut.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer contends that Chris Paul‘s absence due to a hand injury could be a “blessing in disguise” for the Suns as long as it doesn’t extend into the postseason. As O’Connor explains, a number of other Suns will get a chance to handle the ball with Paul sidelined, which could allow the team to experiment a little and add a new layer to its offense.
- Suns point guard Cameron Payne did some 3-on-3, 4-on-4, and a little 5-on-5 work on Monday, head coach Monty Williams told reporters today (video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). The team is hoping Payne can return from his right wrist injury soon, with Williams noting that the plan would be for the veteran guard to displace Cameron Johnson in the starting lineup (Twitter link via Rankin).
- John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link) questions why the Lakers didn’t complete a salary-dump trade involving DeAndre Jordan prior to last month’s deadline if they were just going to eventually waive him anyway. As Hollinger points out, the Lakers could’ve sent out cash with Jordan, essentially paying him another team to take him. Doing so would’ve reduced L.A.’s tax bill by about $5MM, so the team still would’ve come out ahead financially.
Hollinger is correct
Lakers make a mistake by keeping Jordan salary, but Lakers did intend to trade away luxury tax to Celtics at TD
My bet is Wiseman will never play this season if Dray is coming back
Couldn’t agree more
Wiseman and Kuminga for Zion when both are healthy.
Who would you take?
That’s a ridiculous trade. Will never happen. The Warriors would never consider it.
Wiseman was supposed to be just as good as what Mobley has been.
Hasn’t worked out for him so far with injuries and things.
Think that’s the only bad thing with GSW and their development. The young guys often take a while to earn a spot in the rotation.
Jordan Poole for example, he’s playing terrific this season but he was drafted in 2019.
It’s now Kuminga, Moody and Wiseman that are waiting their turns.
Steve Kerr obviously doesn’t want to play the young guys if it’s going to affect their record or standings. But at the same time the young guys probably don’t want to wait 3 seasons just to get regular action.
Wiseman has to put some hard work on his craft to get minimum minutes in this team even for a #2 rookie pick … Last year hé got ripped by Dray and Kerr for this lack of accountability
That’s what I mean tho. It’s because they are a winning team that doesn’t want to lose they don’t play the young guys. If Wiseman was on say the Thunder he would be putting up 17-9 most nights and learning as he plays.
Warriors development plan is to learn in trainings and G league and be ready for the league. It’s worked so far with Poole but I can see a lot of young players not working out like Wiseman. You’ve come from college, your really talented and you know your better than most the other young players. You really want to play and your being told you can’t.
It just shows not all players are the same. Not a knock on Wiseman at all, most rookies end up on bad teams and get to preform right away even tho they aren’t polished. Just hope Wiseman can stay health and turn it around and have a solid career
See Kuminga, is maybe less gifted than #2 Wiseman but i credit him a lot for putting a ton of extra work, and win now attitude to earn his minutes. Even if Dray down, Kerr is giving him playing time, as a rook, in a winning team with a full competitive roster … Wiseman mindset has to change cause JK is NBA ready.
Yeah good on Kuminga but not all players will have that attitude.
You obviously don’t follow the Warriors. Kerr said completely the opposite this week. Why do you make crap up?
It’s called having an opinion
Why have an opinion that is not based on actual facts? Before you start trashing a player, learn something about the team.
Maybe you should try following the Warriors before you make your comments.
When did he get ripped for his ‘accountability’?
Have you ever had a knee injury? They take a long time to heal. I still have problems from a knee injury that took place 45 years ago when I was 10.
I had a high knee injury and it healed just fine. You dont know what you’re talking about…smdh
What kinda of knee injury did you have? Mine caused structural damage. That doesn’t go away. I still feel it. The doctors I have seen still see it. How can you say I don’t know what I am talking about.
It was my high knee.
And if you still feel it all these years later it sounds psychological to me. That’s what my cousin says and he is a doctor so I trust him more than some stranger on the internet…
Your high knee? Isn’t that your butt. Neither you, nor your cousin, have examined my knee. So, how can you make a medical diagnosis? And no legitimate doctor is going to make a second hand diagnosis.
Butt? Real mature! And how dare you criticize my cousin that you’ve never even met. Whatever small sliver of credibility you had is gone. Smdh
No credible doctor is going to render a medical diagnosis without first examining the patient. Name one that can do that.
Well I just texted my cousin and he said it’s possible with telehealth mr know it all
Exactly. Ive never heard of a high knee, but I’ve torn my meniscus as well as my ACL and I was told during rehab that I’d have structural damage my entire life due to thinning cartilage.
The meniscus doesn’t just ‘grow back’. It’s either cut out, or the torn part is shaved down.
Regardless, the meniscus is never the same again.
If you knew some knee anatomy, you’d be aware that the meniscus is the “shock absorber” of the knee. A 7ft/250lb basketball player puts a TON of impact on that knee via jumping, running, and stopping/cutting.
It takes a minimum of 6 months before you can begin rehabbing, and anywhere from 9-16 months to return to full activity in competitive sports. There’s a chance he does just fine, there’s also a not so insignificant chance of him never reaching his prior potential. That’s the difference between an average knee and a knee of someone with highly abnormal height.
Consider this; science views anything taller than 6’2 as ‘abnormal height’. Now add 10 inches and what do you think they call that?
Tall guys often struggle later in life due to the sheer size and distance these tendons/ligaments and even blood vessels have to travel. We all face the same gravity, just different slides. A taller slide has more parts to go wrong with it.
There’s a reason KD’s return has been so Amazing. Very few doctors have ever operated on a human Achilles-to-calf distance of nearly 2 and a half feet. They had to consult doctors of other larger animals in order to ensure their tools would be adequate for the sheer size of the ligaments/tendons/muscles.
Jordan Poole almost single-handedly saved their 2021 season after being brought up from his G-League stint mid-season.
He played as many minutes as any rookie in 2019/20, as Klay was out for the year, Steph only played 5 games, and DLo/Dray weren’t very successful.