After missing three games while in the NBA’s health and safety protocol, James Wiseman will return to the Golden State Warriors lineup as a starter. On Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers, Steve Kerr announced Wiseman would start at center for the Warriors.
The second overall pick from the 2020 draft opened his rookie campaign as Golden State’s starter in the frontcourt. However, after 16 games, Kerr opted to roll with veteran Kevon Looney as the starter.
The Memphis product made an impact in the second unit, averaging 12.1 points on 54.5% shooting from the field with 5.8 boards in 20.4 minutes off the bench.
After getting comfortable during his time off the bench, Wiseman will have the chance to establish himself in Golden State’s starting lineup.
Wiseman’s appearance in the starting lineup could be the start of a potentially long run for the 19-year-old. After announcing the change to Golden State’s starting group in a pregame virtual conference with members of the media, Kerr said he anticipated Wiseman to start the rest of the season at center.
I anticipate James to start for the rest of the season. That’s the thought. You never know how things play out. There are 29 games left, a good time to get him into the lineup.
We’ve tried a lot of different lineups, Anthony, as you well know. Not so much starting lineups, we’ve been pretty consistent with four guys, but we’ve tried a lot of different rotations. We just feel like after 40 plus games, wherever we are, James has come along really well. He’s picked up a lot of the concepts. It’s really important now especially given the absences — missing the 10-11 games with the wrist, the last three games with COVID protocols, he needs to be out there.
Earlier in the season, when I made the switch to Loon (Kevon Looney), that was the right thing to do competitively and rotationally. I think we handled that pretty well. Our defense got a lot better, rotations improved. But this feels right now. This feels like the right time to do this. It would be great for James to get a really good stretch over the last 29 games,
Listen to Kerr’s full pregame presser via Warriors SoundCloud.
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While the Warriors push for a spot in the playoffs, Wiseman will get valuable experience before Klay Thompson returns alongside Curry next season.
Wiseman’s run as Golden State’s starting center will start on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the Sixers at Chase Center.
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