The Golden State Warriors are trying to return to the top of the NBA this upcoming season, and they will have a good opportunity to do so with their stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson fully recovered from injuries. Yet, that’s not the end for the Dubs, who also have the No. 2 overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft, meaning they could land a good prospect or trade that pick for some assets.
It seems like this could be the plan for the Warriors given James Wiseman’s good form in recent workouts. The former Memphis Tigers player has made a great impression during individual workouts and now it’s considered the ‘safest’ player at the top of the draft.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic reported that Wiseman is getting a lot of praise from executives after his workouts, and only a couple of them doubt that he will be good in the NBA once he makes it.
“Having talked to sources who have seen Wiseman work out in Miami, there is some real enthusiasm about his play. He’s looked dominant in workouts and in the runs with other high-level NBA Draft prospects. A lot of executives I’ve spoken with actually consider Wiseman to be among the safer players in the draft. Simply put, few executives doubt that his size, length and athleticism will translate into being a starting quality NBA center.”
New York Knicks are reportedly ready to trade back from the No. 8 spot
It’s believed that the Minnesota Timberwolves will try LaMelo Ball with the first overall pick, leaving the Warriors the door open to draft Wiseman. Seeing his good form and the way he’s seen around the league, Golden State would opt to trade that pick and see how many assets they can get in return.
The New York Knicks appear to be one of the teams interested in trading for this pick, but it’s unclear if they’ll put together a package to unlock negotiations with the Warriors. Right now the only players with star material are Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett.Perhaps a duo of Barrett and Wiseman would start changing things for the Knicks but we still have a month to discover what the Warriors are going to do with their lottery pick.