James Wiseman made his debut for the Detroit Pistons last night, trying to shake the rust off after not playing much for the Warriors.
Wiseman came out firing, scoring six points in five minutes, and ended the game with 11 points and five rebounds, a promising start in his career with the Pistons.
Wiseman needs more conditioning, which he mentioned after the game, as he had mostly been sitting on the bench for the Warriors and will need to get back into game shape.
Wiseman mostly played as the backup center with the second unit, which will likely be his role until Marvin Bagley III returns from injury (if that ever happens).
The two players have been compared recently, as they were both no.2 picks that flamed out with their original teams, have big time offensive potential but big question marks around their defense and overall basketball IQ.
While there are definitely some superficial similarities, James Wiseman flashed some defensive potential last night that we’ve not seen from Marvin Bagley III.
Detroit Pistons: James Wiseman switching on defense
When Steve Kerr of the Warriors talked about Wiseman in a recent article in The Athletic (SUBSCRIPTION), he mainly talked about how his defense was what kept him from getting consistent minutes:
"“It’s his defensive awareness,” Steve Kerr once said when asked what’s held him out of the rotation. “Offensively, we know he can score. The guy is always going to be able to score. Regardless of what happens in the short term, if he stays healthy, he’s going to have a good career and score a lot of points. But what we need is defensive awareness and the ability to patrol the paint, rim protect.”"
You could see some of this in the game last night, as Wiseman was out of position on a couple of plays and a bit late to rotate, which you would expect from a 21-year-old making his debut for a new team, especially since Wiseman has barely played in his three seasons in the NBA after playing just three games in college.
Early in the game coach Dwane Casey mostly used Wiseman in drop coverage, but as the game progressed, we saw more switches and Wiseman defending players on the perimeter. He had several really nice defensive stands in these plays, showing that he can maybe be more on defense than just a guy who “patrols the paint.”
This is important if Wiseman and Duren are going to share time together, as Wiseman will often be the one tasked with stepping out on the perimeter, which he was able to do effectively several times last night. You can see one of them here, as Wiseman switches onto the guard, moves his feet well and is able to stay in front of him.
If Wiseman can effectively switch on the perimeter, he can play with Duren and give the Detroit Pistons a lot of size, similar to what the Cavaliers are doing with Mobley and Allen. He’s certainly not there yet, but Wiseman has potential on defense and has already shown more on the perimeter than MBIII.