NBA Draft: New player at the top of the 2020 NBA Lottery Redraft
170. . Center. Charlotte Hornets. James Wiseman. 3. player
2020 NBA Lottery Redraft, Pick No. 3: James Wiseman, Memphis
Prior to the start of the NBA season, James Wiseman had played just three competitive basketball games since the end of his high school season 20 months earlier. He missed training camp and preseason due to a positive COVID-19 test. He has been limited to just 20 games with a sprained wrist.
That context might make his flashes of brilliance thus far incredible impressive. Wiseman has shot from outside better than expected, can rise above the rim for alley-oops and has the defensive size and motor to be a high-level rim protector. Even so, he has been wildly inconsistent, looking lost as he tries to process a game still too fast for him. Eventually he will get caught up, and he could be an All-NBA candidate from the center position.
Team Fit: The Hornets have an oft-injured center in Cody Zeller, and otherwise a replacement-level guy in Bismack Biyombo and a pair of second-round rookies who can’t make it onto the court whatsoever. They were rumored to want a center before the draft, and in this redraft where LaMelo Ball is off the board, they are more than happy to take their center of the future.
What’s Changed? LaMelo Ball has been remarkable to start his career, and the Hornets have no problem with the selection. Here, taking Wiseman allows them to continue with their backcourt of DeVonte Graham and Terry Rozier, with a combination of Gordon Hayward, Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington at the forward positions. That group may not be a playoff squad with a rookie James Wiseman, but it has serious defensive upside as he grows into his role.