I didn't have high hopes to begin with but if he's gonna miss camp I'm not gonna expect much. At least Kerr won't be forced to play him early.
---via The Athletic---
James Wiseman, again, won’t get a full training camp. The second-year Warriors center is more than five months recovered from meniscus surgery, but not yet fully cleared for the unrestrained contact portions of practice and, it seems, won’t be until the sixth-month mark from his surgery, Oct. 15, at the earliest.
The Warriors open their season on Oct. 19 in Los Angeles against the Lakers. That’s only four days from the stated clearance target. That’s too condensed a timeline to believe Wiseman even has a chance to be ready for the start of the schedule. He will miss some unknown chunk of games to begin the season, joining Klay Thompson on the sideline.
The Warriors also provided a Monday update on Thompson. As expected, he will also only participate in controlled, individual work during training camp, as the team tries to ease his body back into playing shape. He tore his Achilles 10 months ago and, because of a torn ACL before that, hasn’t played an NBA game in 830 days and counting.
What does this news mean? Not much on the Thompson front. Considering the typical recovery timeline for an Achilles, the Warriors have long felt a floating return target somewhere in the December-to-January range was most probable.
Jordan Poole will likely get the largest minute bump with Thompson out and arrives in camp as the favorite to keep Thompson’s starting spot warm. Moses Moody has a path to rotation run early in his career. Damion Lee has always been a capable placeholder. There are plenty of youthful and veteran options to fill in while Thompson uses the next several months to prepare his body for the March-to-May stretch run.
The situation surrounding Wiseman is trickier. Part of the reason he appeared unready to consistently contribute to a winning NBA atmosphere a season ago was due to the lack of prep time prior. Three college games were followed by a COVID draft process, no summer league and a COVID absence for training camp and the preseason.
His first sniff of NBA basketball was opening night in Brooklyn, when the coaching staff opted to toss him into the starting fire. There were a couple times, as a rookie, he did seem to be gaining a little bit of momentum. The first, it was stopped by a sprained wrist. The second — when Steve Kerr committed to a more pick-and-roll heavy attack with Wiseman on the floor — he tore his meniscus on a dunk attempt.
The messaging about his recovery this offseason had been optimistic. Bob Myers, at his exit presser, said “the thinking now is that he should be able to participate (in camp), which would and should matter.” Steve Kerr, in July, echoed a similar sentiment.
Participation in camp could be viewed in many ways. Wiseman will be out on the court in controlled drills and individual skill work. He will be in the weight and film room. It won’t be an empty month. He’s increasing his activity by the week.
But it’s still another vital month of limited activity early in his basketball career. In the NBA, the first seven to 10 practices of a season are viewed as the most important. It’s when the team is installing concepts, scrimmaging the hardest and learning each other on the court. Once the season starts, off-days are most often spent on rest, recovery and mental work. Wiseman will now have been a limited or non-participant in his first two career training camps.
The immediate attention might turn to the center spot, where the Warriors are thin. They have Kevon Looney, the entrenched starter, and no other traditional bigs behind him, while Wiseman is out. But they did add Nemanja Bjelica, a stretch big, in free agency and, of most relevance, they plan to deploy a heavy dosage of small-ball all season. They were often at their best last season with Draymond Green at center and Juan Toscano-Anderson in the mix.
So Wiseman’s expected absence at the beginning of the season won’t alter plans. They have a vacant 15th roster spot and an open two-way contract. The 15th spot, detailed here, is expected to be filled by a guard or wing, with Gary Payton II the slight favorite. That’s where Bob Myers and the front office believe the biggest need lies.
The Warriors are expected to bring in an extra big body for training camp and it’s possible a younger center can stick on that second two-way, but the core of their center rotation this season is already known — Looney, Bjelica and a whole lot of mix-and-match Green at the 5 lineups, while a rotation spot of some sort awaits Wiseman upon return in the first month or two.
That’s where this training camp absence hurts them most. It’s not the handful of games he will miss to start the season, it’s the loss of valuable time in the race to speed up Wiseman’s development. He has physical tools that, if utilized correctly in a simplified role, add an explosive dimension the Warriors lack on the interior. Their pathway back to relevance would become much clearer if Wiseman could even take a small leap.
But training camp and preseason would theoretically serve as the ideal time for Kerr and Dejan Milojević (the new assistant coach assigned to Wiseman), as well as the rest of the staff, to experiment in a lower-stakes environment, teach through mistakes and sharpen both his skills and the ideal plan before the games count. That won’t happen, though. Wiseman won’t appear this season until the train is already in motion.
---via The Athletic---
James Wiseman, again, won’t get a full training camp. The second-year Warriors center is more than five months recovered from meniscus surgery, but not yet fully cleared for the unrestrained contact portions of practice and, it seems, won’t be until the sixth-month mark from his surgery, Oct. 15, at the earliest.
The Warriors open their season on Oct. 19 in Los Angeles against the Lakers. That’s only four days from the stated clearance target. That’s too condensed a timeline to believe Wiseman even has a chance to be ready for the start of the schedule. He will miss some unknown chunk of games to begin the season, joining Klay Thompson on the sideline.
The Warriors also provided a Monday update on Thompson. As expected, he will also only participate in controlled, individual work during training camp, as the team tries to ease his body back into playing shape. He tore his Achilles 10 months ago and, because of a torn ACL before that, hasn’t played an NBA game in 830 days and counting.
What does this news mean? Not much on the Thompson front. Considering the typical recovery timeline for an Achilles, the Warriors have long felt a floating return target somewhere in the December-to-January range was most probable.
Jordan Poole will likely get the largest minute bump with Thompson out and arrives in camp as the favorite to keep Thompson’s starting spot warm. Moses Moody has a path to rotation run early in his career. Damion Lee has always been a capable placeholder. There are plenty of youthful and veteran options to fill in while Thompson uses the next several months to prepare his body for the March-to-May stretch run.
The situation surrounding Wiseman is trickier. Part of the reason he appeared unready to consistently contribute to a winning NBA atmosphere a season ago was due to the lack of prep time prior. Three college games were followed by a COVID draft process, no summer league and a COVID absence for training camp and the preseason.
His first sniff of NBA basketball was opening night in Brooklyn, when the coaching staff opted to toss him into the starting fire. There were a couple times, as a rookie, he did seem to be gaining a little bit of momentum. The first, it was stopped by a sprained wrist. The second — when Steve Kerr committed to a more pick-and-roll heavy attack with Wiseman on the floor — he tore his meniscus on a dunk attempt.
The messaging about his recovery this offseason had been optimistic. Bob Myers, at his exit presser, said “the thinking now is that he should be able to participate (in camp), which would and should matter.” Steve Kerr, in July, echoed a similar sentiment.
Participation in camp could be viewed in many ways. Wiseman will be out on the court in controlled drills and individual skill work. He will be in the weight and film room. It won’t be an empty month. He’s increasing his activity by the week.
But it’s still another vital month of limited activity early in his basketball career. In the NBA, the first seven to 10 practices of a season are viewed as the most important. It’s when the team is installing concepts, scrimmaging the hardest and learning each other on the court. Once the season starts, off-days are most often spent on rest, recovery and mental work. Wiseman will now have been a limited or non-participant in his first two career training camps.
The immediate attention might turn to the center spot, where the Warriors are thin. They have Kevon Looney, the entrenched starter, and no other traditional bigs behind him, while Wiseman is out. But they did add Nemanja Bjelica, a stretch big, in free agency and, of most relevance, they plan to deploy a heavy dosage of small-ball all season. They were often at their best last season with Draymond Green at center and Juan Toscano-Anderson in the mix.
So Wiseman’s expected absence at the beginning of the season won’t alter plans. They have a vacant 15th roster spot and an open two-way contract. The 15th spot, detailed here, is expected to be filled by a guard or wing, with Gary Payton II the slight favorite. That’s where Bob Myers and the front office believe the biggest need lies.
The Warriors are expected to bring in an extra big body for training camp and it’s possible a younger center can stick on that second two-way, but the core of their center rotation this season is already known — Looney, Bjelica and a whole lot of mix-and-match Green at the 5 lineups, while a rotation spot of some sort awaits Wiseman upon return in the first month or two.
That’s where this training camp absence hurts them most. It’s not the handful of games he will miss to start the season, it’s the loss of valuable time in the race to speed up Wiseman’s development. He has physical tools that, if utilized correctly in a simplified role, add an explosive dimension the Warriors lack on the interior. Their pathway back to relevance would become much clearer if Wiseman could even take a small leap.
But training camp and preseason would theoretically serve as the ideal time for Kerr and Dejan Milojević (the new assistant coach assigned to Wiseman), as well as the rest of the staff, to experiment in a lower-stakes environment, teach through mistakes and sharpen both his skills and the ideal plan before the games count. That won’t happen, though. Wiseman won’t appear this season until the train is already in motion.
