On Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors decided on the team’s overall second pick during the 2020 NBA draft. According to official reports, the Warriors chose Memphis center James Wiseman to join their ranks for the basketball season this year.
Wiseman is one of the No. 2 bracket’s highest-ranked players since he was in high school. However, to achieve being included in the class, he had to overcome the thundering postgraduate season under the Memphis basketball team.
In response to the pick results, Wiseman expressed his thoughts regarding the matter during his ESPN interview. According to Wiseman, he is ready to join the Golden State Warriors group and learn many things from his future experiences with them for him to become a better and wiser player on the basketball court. He also mentioned that going through the obstacle of facing suspension in his past made him the sturdier version of himself today.
As a rookie player for the Tigers team, Wiseman achieved average points of 34.2 in his three games during the first year of his basketball career. However, NCAA posed a 12-game suspension on him after hard evidence of his family receiving compensation during his recruitment process made headlines in the basketball news industry. The 7-foot-1, 240 -pound Wiseman chose to keep his gaze fixed on the draft while serving his sanction.
His inclusion in the draft roster came as no surprise to spectators and players alike, as his past accomplishments prove Wiseman’s place in the brackets. As a neophyte, his offensive abilities could prove him to become a strong lob-finisher in the games. However, his talent at individual scoring remains unrefined and lacking. Nevertheless, the 19-year old Wiseman still has lots of training and learning to do in the basketball industry. Once he hones his skills and gets accustomed to the basketball court, Wiseman could raise himself into the ranks of the best basketball players in a few years. He still has a long way to go, but his natural talents in basketball are rare to find.
Moreover, the pick on Wiseman reportedly got encouraged by the Warriors after the news of the team’s guard Klay Thompson injuring his leg. The disclosure of Klompson’s leg injury broke out to the media earlier on Wednesday. According to the report, Thompson hurt his leg while doing his workout alone in Southern California, leaving the Warriors indecisive with their draft lineup.
The Golden State Warriors only issued an official statement regarding Thompson’s injury. However, they did not reveal further details concerning his attendance at the December training camp, which will begin on December 1 of this year. Additionally, the team also remained quiet about Thompson’s return to the new season that would commence on December 22.
Many critics see the Thompson news as a massive disadvantage towards the Warriors’ upcoming games in the future. Moreover, finishing the previous season as one of the worst teams would have dealt a critical blow to the Golden State’s pride. Due to his left knee surgery, Thompson did not participate in the coronavirus-shortened season to recuperate well from his injury. He got the torn ACL when the Warriors played against the champion Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals, particularly during the deciding Game 6 event.
In the previous season, the Golden State Warriors ended it with a score of 15-50, marking their worst record in the NBA during that time. The previously mentioned defeat stemmed from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson’s absence in the starting lineup due to health concerns. Moreover, Kevin Durant, the Warriors’ two-time NBA Finals MVP, departed from the team to later join the Brooklyn Nets for future games.
