We are a month removed from this year’s trade deadline, and Golden State Warriors fans are up in arms over the decision of the front office to stand pat. You only have to scroll a couple of minutes on the Twitter timeline before you find someone burying the Warriors title chances because of their lack of size and their reluctance to part with some of their young pieces.
Golden State Warriors were right to not trade James Wiseman
A name that is frequently mentioned and was deemed as the “perfect move” is Myles Turner.
Turner is a very peculiar big who is known for his elite shot-blocking and ability to stretch the floor. On paper, it seems like a no-brainer; an ideal fit next to Draymond Green on both ends of the court.
But Turner has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, missing 50 games (and counting) over the last two years. The latest injury is a foot-related issue, which is always concerning for seven-footers. Aside from Turner, there was no other “big” out there on the trade market that was worth sacrificing young promising pieces for.
This year’s draft class has shown a lot of promise and potential for the Dubs. Both Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody have shown flashes, including a 30-point explosion from the latter against the Nuggets.
The player most fans wanted traded at the deadline was former number-two overall pick, James Wiseman. He is yet to suit up for the team this year, as he continues to recover from a meniscus injury he suffered last season. Many consider Wiseman to be a bad pick at the moment, given the fact that the Warriors passed on Lamelo Ball.
Wiseman may never be as good as Ball, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a foundational piece for the team. A player who found himself in a similar predicament was fellow center Deandre Ayton.
After the Suns passed on Luka Doncic, some saw Ayton as the wrong pick after his first two years in the league. His strong play last year flipped that narrative, and although he is not and will never be regarded as the same caliber of player as Luka Doncic, he is viewed as an essential piece of a championship-contending team.
The similarities don’t end there. The stats of their rookie seasons are eerily similar. According to Statheads.com, per 36 minutes, Ayton posted 19.1 points on 58 percent shooting,12.0 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks.
Meanwhile, Wiseman posted 19.3 points on 52 percent shooting, 9.7 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks. It should be noted that, unlike Ayton, who enjoyed a regular rookie season, Wiseman’s rookie season was extremely chaotic and abnormal due to the pandemic. Despite all of this, he was still able to produce at the same level as Ayton on a per-minute basis.
This is why Warriors fans have to be patient with Wiseman. After all, they lived through this experience recently with Jordan Poole, who was also considered somewhat of a bust and is now a core piece of the franchise’s present and future.