James Wiseman received news on Monday that may be as much a result of his rookie season as for the State of the Warriors.
The 7-foot center underwent an MRI test and was diagnosed with a sprained left wrist. He will be re-evaluated next week, and depending on the healing process, he will likely miss more than ten days.
This is a blow to Wiseman’s Rookie of the Year campaign.
However, this is a bigger blow to the Warriors’ hopes.
After finishing the training camp with three designated centers, they are now one of six veteran Kevon Looney, who has not missed a game this season but has a career-long history of injuries. Marquese Chriss suffered a bone fracture on December 26 that required surgery, which is likely to tip him off for the season.
It is very risky to go with one undersized center for two weeks or so. General Manager Bob Myers needs to think about adding to a list.
With a center trio of Looney, who have started the last four games, and 6-foot-6 power forward Draymond Green and Eric Paschall, the Warriors are the smallest team in the NBA. Their biggest active players, after Looney, are wingers Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr., who are both 6-foot-7.
Can the Warriors win without seeking reinforcement? It sounds like they’re going to try.
“We’ll mix and figure out what we’re going to do,” coach Steve Kerr said.
“It’s worrying when you lose someone for any length of time, especially a man who is in rotation,” Stephen Curry said. “But we’ll find out.”
I’m skeptical, mostly because of their problems. They lost that category in 14 of 20 games. Although there are signs of improvement – they have won the setback in two of the last three games – but it was available with Wiseman.
If he is out of the question, it means more small ball lineups and more responsibility for the small role players on the rankings. More minutes for Paschall. More minutes for Damion Lee, a 6-foot-5 guard pressed into both front positions in service. Wiggins will see more minutes at the power forward, as well as Juan Toscano-Anderson. Oubre can also slide from the shooting guard to the front end after a few minutes.
There will be some interesting and very challenging Golden State appointments like Kristaps Porzingis of 7 feet-3 for two games in Dallas, followed by some games against LaMarcus Aldridge of 11 meters and Jakob Poeltl of 7 feet in San Antonio.
“Obviously we have things we need to work on, in terms of rebounding and fouling,” Curry said. ‘It seems like we are not getting one-shot possession, our percentage field goal is really very strong. The two things you’re right about. ‘
Curry is right across these two areas. The Warriors play their best ball when they limit their mistakes on defense and pull rebounds that cause transition.
The problem with that in the upcoming games is that these are two areas that bigger teams can utilize. Smaller players are often whistled for offenses because the size difference leads to excessive physicality. Smaller players struggle to keep teams off the offensive glass, limiting it to one-shot possessions.
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If the Warriors play it safe and do not move, they should hope that parity continues to exist in the middle of the Western Conference.
If they prefer to move away from the G-League, it means you have to create a roster spot and a slight bump in the payroll – and maybe the difference in a few games.
Either way, a challenging season is now more challenging. At least temporarily.
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