Detroit Pistons: Draymond Green has take on James Wiseman trade

The Detroit Pistons traded Saddiq Bey for James Wiseman and just about everyone has an opinion, including Draymond Green.

Green has been a teammate of James Wiseman’s since 2020, when Wiseman was seen as an exciting top-tier prospect that would be able to inject some youth into the Golden State Warriors long-running dynasty.

Wiseman, a 7-foot center, played just three games for the  Memphis Tigers in college, averaging 19.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game and was then taken with the 2nd overall pick in the draft, just behind Anthony Edwards.

Had the Minnesota Timberwolves not already had Karl Anthony-Towns manning their post, Wiseman would have been a candidate to go #1 overall. Unfortunately, while Wiseman was seen as a potentially great fit for Golden State, he hasn’t been able to develop at the same rate as most highly drafted rookies – after all, mostly highly drafted rookies are sent to dumpster fires where they’re able to chew up all the minutes they want. That’s not the case with the reigning champion Warriors.

Injuries and Veterans kept James Wiseman out of the rotation

Golden State’s Kevon Looney didn’t enter the NBA with the same fanfare Wiseman did, and he’s never been seen as a foundational piece to a championship team. However, Looney has carved out an important niche for himself with the Warriors, and has blended his talents nicely with Draymond Green’s in particular. Both Looney and Green have played important roles defensively, and while Green is obviously a bigger piece of the puzzle, Looney has established himself as an important one. Besides being blocked by some quality veteran play, Wiseman has had trouble staying healthy. The now 21 year-old center has had to overcome everything from a torn meniscus to, more recently, a sprained ankle, limiting him to just 60 games over three seasons.

Draymond Green on the James Wiseman trade to the Detroit Pistons 

Green has done a nice job with his foray into podcasting and recently used his platform to sing the praises of his now “old” teammate. You can watch the entire clip here.

"“Being moved to the Detroit Pistons gives James an opportunity to restart (his career) and I think that’s a beautiful thing.” Green continued, “For James Wiseman to go to a situation where he will have the opportunity to play and play through mistakes is great for him, because he’s super talented, super skilled, he just hasn’t had the reps.”"

While it wasn’t a complete shock to see Troy Weaver trade away Saddiq Bey, it was a surprise to see him bring back an underachieving player from the same draft class. The clock is already ticking on the possibility of an extension and the team has very little data to go on while contemplating that decision – which is to say nothing of what this means for rookie center Jalen Duren and the rest of the Pistons bigs.

With all that said, it is both encouraging and intriguing to hear Draymond’s take on the deal, and hopefully Wiseman will start to show that talent and skill the former Spartan was talking about on his recent podcast.