“They had a dynasty-extender cheat code” – Nick Wright believes LaMelo Ball was a better draft option for Warriors than James Wiseman
The 2020 NBA draft was a big one. Whereas some years see only a handful of top prospects declared for the draft, the 2020 class had no shortage of talent. At the time, there were several highly sought-after prospects who had teams fiendishly seeking trades. Looking back, there were plenty of players like Tyrese Haliburton who were drafted outside of the top three who deserved to go higher.
After the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 pick, the Golden State Warriors were on the clock. The team was faced with a tough decision. Do they go with James Wiseman, a 7-foot-tall former Gatorade Player of the Year in high school, or LaMelo Ball?
Wiseman was initially supposed to be the No. 1 pick during his freshman year at Memphis. Unfortunately for the young star, eligibility issues (just three games) combined with minor injuries saw his draft stock fall.
On the flip side of things, LaMelo Ball had the biggest question mark over his head prior to the draft. The athletic young guard had foregone college in order to spend his junior and senior year of school playing professionally overseas. As a result, it was hard to tell just how NBA-ready his skillset was. While playing professionally in Lithuania and Australia, he continued to impress, but it wasn't enough for the Warriors to take a chance on him.
The team drafted Wiseman, and looking back now, analyst Nick Wright isn't sure they made the right decision.
"They had a dynasty-extender cheat code, which was, they were so bad the year after KD left, when Steph (Curry) got hurt and Draymond (Green) got hurt," Wright said. "They had the No. 2 pick of the draft. And they took a guy who right now looks like a total bust. There's no way around it."
While Wiseman missed the entirety of last season due to injuries, Ball is dealing with them right now.
"I understand he dealt with injury issues," Wright said. "Some of it's not his fault. They could've taken LaMelo. Now, LaMelo is dealing with injury issues as well, but LaMelo, at least, we know is a good player."
The comments came during an episode of 'What's Wright' which can be viewed below. Wright's comments begin shortly before the nine-minute mark.
Ball was the 2020-21 Rookie of the Year and an All-Star in his second season for the Charlotte Hornets. Wiseman has played just 50 games.
James Wiseman's turbulent stint with the Warriors
After sitting out all of last season, Wiseman made his return to the floor this summer as part of the Warriors' summer league team. Despite that, his regular season numbers aren't great. Over the course of 11 games, Wiseman has averaged just 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds.
His performance this season has been so lackluster that the team recently sent him down to the G League to find his rhythm. While teams sending young players to the G League for short periods of time is common, it sounds as though Wiseman's stint could be longer.
The team is set to take on the New York Knicks at home on Friday night, presumably without Wiseman.