It’s been a long time coming for James Wiseman. The former No. 2 overall pick has been out of action since tearing his right meniscus on April 10 last year and returned to the court for game action on Thursday with the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Thursday night was, again, just a glimpse. But it was an awfully enticing glimpse.
Here’s a look at some of his first-half highlights.
He finished the day with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting with 6 rebounds, a couple fouls and one turnover.
The current plan from Golden State is to have Wiseman play another G League game on Sunday. There isn’t an exact date on his long-awaited return, but it will be a welcome one.
“It felt like a dream,” Wiseman said to reporters after the game.
James Wiseman says his first game back “felt like a dream.” pic.twitter.com/o0CcNxeG1Q
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) March 11, 2022
His return, if it looks anything like it did against G League opponents, would be just that for the Warriors.
Golden State has been operating with a threadbare front court of Kevon Looney, Nemanja Bjelica and small ball lineups with Juan Toscano-Anderson and at time, Gary Payton Jr. shepherding some of the front court load without Wiseman, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.
With both Wiseman and Green en route to return over the next couple of weeks and the Warriors’ arrow swinging up, things are starting to look quite a bit more encouraging than they were just a few days ago.