When the Warriors drafted James Wiseman second overall in the 2020 NBA draft, the team probably did not envision trading him 2 and 1/2 years later. However, Golden State was never able to develop Wiseman into a consistent contributor, ultimately sending him to the Pistons in a three-team deal last month.
For the first time since the trade, Warriors owner Joe Lacob spoke about Wiseman, and he admitted that trading the young center could look bad in the future.
“We might very well regret that one, longer term or even intermediate term,” Lacob told The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami.
After a modest rookie season, where he averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds a game in 39 games, Wiseman missed most of Golden State’s 2021–22 season while recovering from a meniscus injury he suffered the previous year. He didn’t play in an NBA game that season, and got into just two G League games.
This year, after getting healthy, Wiseman only played in 21 games for Golden State prior to the trade, averaging just 12.5 minutes and 6.9 points per game.
Lacob made it seem as if he preferred to keep Wiseman, but most of the coaching staff and front office wanted to move on.
“I can’t overrule what our basketball ops and our coaches and our players felt was the right thing to do,” he said.
Wiseman was a highly ranked prospect coming out of Memphis, and was in the top two of most recruiting rankings entering college. However, an NCAA investigation limited him to just three college games before he declared for the NBA draft.
Golden State, meanwhile, did win the NBA Finals last year despite not having Wiseman, and is once again in good playoff positioning. The main reason they were in position to draft Wiseman in the first place was due to injuries to their best players during the 2019–20 season.
Lacob acknowledges that fact, and also believes the team could have given Wiseman more opportunities.
“I think James is a really good player and we’re not going to get many opportunities to draft a young guy like that again,” he said. “He really didn’t have a chance; it’s partially his fault, partially bad luck, partially our fault for not playing him enough.”
Since joining Detroit, Wiseman is averaging 11.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per contest through five games.
