James Wiseman received news on Monday that could be just as important for his debut season as it is for the state of the Warriors.
The 7-foot center underwent an MRI test and was diagnosed with a sprained left wrist. It will be reevaluated in the next week and, depending on the healing process, it will probably lose more than 10 days.
It is a blow to Wiseman’s Rookie of the Year campaign.
It is, however, a major blow to the Warriors’ hopes.
After closing the training ground with three designated centers, they are now reduced to a veteran Kevon Looney, who has not yet lost a game this season, but has a long history of injury problems. Marquese Chriss suffered a fractured leg on December 26 that required surgery that is likely to leave him out for the season.
It is extremely risky to spend two weeks or more with a smaller center. General manager Bob Myers must be considering adding to the list.
With a central trio formed by Looney, who started the last four games, and the 1.8-meter strikers Draymond Green and Eric Paschall, the Warriors are the smallest team in the NBA. Its tallest active players, after Looney, are wards Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr., both six feet tall.
Can the Warriors win without seeking reinforcements? It looks like they will try.
“We will mix and match and find out what we are going to do,” said coach Steve Kerr.
“It’s a concern whenever you lose someone for a period of time, especially a guy who is on the road,” said Stephen Curry. “But let’s find out.”
I am skeptical, mainly because of your recovery problems. They lost that category in 14 of 20 games. Although there are signs of improvement – they have won the rebound battle in two of the last three games – but that was with Wiseman available.
With him out, that means more small ball lineups and more responsibility for the smaller players in the squad. More minutes to Paschall. More minutes for Damion Lee, a six-foot guard who was pressed into service at both points of attack. Wiggins will have more minutes as a striker, as will Juan Toscano-Anderson. Oubre can also slide from the shooting guard for minutes at any point ahead.
There will be some interesting and very challenging lineups from Golden State facing players like 2.13m Kristaps Porzingis for two games in Dallas, followed by a couple of games against 1.80m LaMarcus Aldridge and 2.13m Jakob Poeltl in San Antonio.
“Obviously, we have things we need to work on, in terms of recovery and encrustation,” said Curry. “It seems that if we don’t do that and have a shot, our percentage of field goal is very, very strong. You got those two things right. “
Curry is right about these two areas. The Warriors play their best ball when they limit their defensive fouls and pull the rebounds that trigger the transition.
The problem with this in the next games is that these are two areas that larger teams can explore. Smaller players are often accused of fouls simply because the size gap results in over-physicality. Smaller players have a harder time keeping teams away from the offensive glass, limiting them to one shot possession.
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If the Warriors play it safe and do nothing, they need to wait for parity to continue to exist in the middle of the Western Conference
If they choose to make a move, probably from the G League, that means creating a vacancy in the squad and a slight increase in payroll – and perhaps the difference in some games.
Anyway, a challenging season is now more challenging. At least temporarily.
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