Friday, March 29

Warriors’ Kerr Learned From ‘Rushing’ James Wiseman: Insider


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Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors (center)

Even before the bizarre knee injury that cut short his rookie season at just 39 games, it was clear that Warriors center James Wiseman, the No. 2 pick of the 2020 NBA draft, was off to only a so-so start, at best. Wiseman had his moments of him, including an impressive 25 points in 24 minutes in a win over the Timberwolves, but for the most part, his first NBA season was a mix of disappointment and confusion.

He averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in his first season.

Wiseman struggled to find his place among a mostly veteran group and tended to wilt when he was out of place on either end of the floor—which was often, as he had trouble keeping straight his offensive and defensive assignments. That was not a big surprise, though, considering that Wiseman’s sum total of collegiate experience was three games before an NCAA investigation prompted him to leave Memphis, his college.

According to NBA Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole, coach Steve Kerr felt some remorse over the way Wiseman was handled that season—and it affected his approach with Jonathan Kuminga last year. “Most coaches have a hard time pushing rookies,” Poole said on the Dubs Talk podcast. “I’ve got to think that Steve’s decisions with JK were influenced somewhat by his decisions with James Wiseman the previous year.”


Kuminga Played in 70 Games Last Season

Kuminga was the No. 7 pick of the NBA draft in 2021, from the G League Ignite. I have played in 70 games last year, including 12 starts, and averaged 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds, playing 16.9 minutes per game. He had some jaw-dropping dunks early in the year, but did not start playing more until mid-January, when Draymond Green suffered an injury.

From January 13 through March 14, when Green returned, Kuminga averaged 13.2 points in 22.6 minutes, with 4.0 rebounds and 53.3% shooting. But by the time the playoffs rolled around, Kerr again pulled back the reins on Kuminga, resisting calls to put him on the floor, especially in the Finals against the Celtics, who were younger and more athletic than the Warriors.

Kerr did not budge, though, and Kuminga averaged just 8.6 minutes in 16 playoff games this spring.


Kerr Admitted He ‘Rushed’ Wiseman

Again, Poole said, those decisions came back to the Wiseman experience. Kuminga is still just 19 years old, and last year’s fellow rookie, Moses Moody, also coped with limited playing time. Moody played 11.7 minutes in 52 regular-season games and just 8.1 minutes in 13 playoff games.

Said Poole:

Steve has admitted that he rushed things a little bit, that he sort of put James into the fire and maybe thought it wasn’t fair to James to put him out there at times when maybe he should have been learning instead of playing. I think if you’re Steve Kerr, you think, ‘Maybe I put Wiseman on the fast track before he was ready to be on that track. So, I got Kuminga now and I’m not going to do that with him. I’m going to be more deliberate, I am going to play him on a slower track, get him minutes when they’re right, get him on the floor with the right guys and not just put him out there.’

That has to be an influential thing because Steve admitted that, that it was a kind of unfair thing to James. I think with JK he wanted to make sure.




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