© Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Warriors are entering a crucial offseason, with a clear need to get more help for Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and a hopefully healthy Klay Thompson. What the organization faces now, is a question over whether they stick with James Wiseman and a much-improved Andrew Wiggins, or if they look to upgrade immediately.
According to The Athletic’s John Hollinger, the Warriors are expected to try and move Wiseman as well as their new, seventh overall draft pick, and one name in the discussion is Toronto’s Pascal Siakam.
Warriors legend Chris Mullin joined KNBR to talk about the potential trade scenarios. In his view, the grass might not be greener. He’s like what he’s seen from Wiggins over the last year, and believes the upside to Wiseman is comparable to most of the league’s elite young big men like Clint Capela and Deandre Ayton.
One theoretical trade that’s been proposed is Wiseman, Wiggins and the seventh overall pick for Siakam, which… seems insane.
“If I’m Toronto, I’ll do that in a second,” Mullin said. That particular deal – I still have a lot of faith and belief in James Wiseman and Siakam, he’s a heck of a player but he’s similar to what they have. If you watched these playoffs, every team has a legitimate center that they use at some point during the game, during the series, to change the way they’re playing. So, I mean I believe in James Wiseman, that’s my personal opinion.”
Mullin was impressed by what he saw from Andrew Wiggins last year, who had the best all-around season of his career, with improvements to become a borderline All-NBA defender, shooting the three as efficiently as ever, and coming through in key games.
“So, these other names are they much better than Wiggins? I’m not so sure about that,” Mullin said. “And like I said, Wiseman’s young but he’s really talented, so you’re gonna go get an older guy that’s not as talented? I don’t see that as an option either.”
Listen to the full podcast below: