James Wiseman recently had two knee surgeries to fix his torn meniscus, and he hasn't been on the court for nearly a year since, and the fact that the Warriors are the favorite to win the NBA Finals has raised a lot of questions about Wiseman's role in the lineup. For the Golden State Warriors, there's also a thorny issue at hand about how they'll fit Wiseman into their current winning model.
Wiseman is the warrior's tallest player on the team, with a height of 2.13 meters and an arm span of 2.29 meters, and also has super athleticism, able to make many shots that players dare not even challenge. Wiseman also has a fairly soft shooting feel, shooting 32 percent from three-point range.
However, due to his lack of experience and basketball IQ, he can't help a championship-level team much apart from his illusory athletic talent and offensive ability, but from a small editor's point of view, Wiseman's situation is now the same as when the Warriors signed Javier McGee as a backup center in 2016.
In fact, Wiseman played almost exactly the same role for the rest of the season as McGee had played in the Warriors at the time. McGee played every game for about 10 minutes, and his main role on the offensive end was to block the bally under the ballet and improve the team's blocking ability on the defensive end, similar to his role in the U.S. men's basketball team at the 2021 Olympics. In terms of Wiseman's physical talent, he can actually play the same role, because the Warriors have too much talent in the lineup and are used to playing small-ball lineups, so he shouldn't have much playing time.
Wiseman's main rival in the center position, Kevin Looney, has been very good in this season's starting lineup, his offensive rebounding ability is particularly good, he has a good performance against the defenders, and despite being only 2.06 meters tall, he can also play a certain limit to those big centers in the low position.
Another interior player, Nemanja Bjelica, has also had a steady track record this season, and although his influence has diminished since Draymond Green's injury suspension, he still has a good performance in the big forward position.
Green's playing time at the center this season has also been influential, he is the perfect choice for the center in the small-ball lineup, which is also the main lineup for the Warriors to reach the Finals for five consecutive times, however, as he gets older, Green's playing time in the center position should be reduced.
In this case, Wiseman can completely take over part of Looney and Otto Porter Jr.'s playing time, while further compressing Bjelica's playing time to about 4 minutes, and occupying an additional 10 minutes that Looney, Bjelica and Green do not use, so that Wiseman can have up to 25 minutes of playing time per game, of course, he may only play a game for 5 minutes, which is the Warriors' rotation method, there is no fixed routine to follow.
Wiseman will play the role of the mcGee-esque during this time, taking on the high ball that no one else on the team can get, setting up cover for Stephen Curry, and intimidating the opposing outside players with an extraordinary height and athleticism, thus playing a role in protecting the basket.
But with a warrior like Steve Kerr, it's almost impossible to predict what role players who aren't in the core lineup will play in the rotation, especially this season, with a lot of players on their bench who can offer different styles of play, but one thing is for sure, Kerr will find the best way to use the 20-year-old talented center.