Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The much-anticipated Warriors opening night and starting five are officially here, and the mystery is no longer a mystery.
The answer is yes. Stephen Curry will start.
Oh, as will James Wiseman.
The second-overall pick will be thrown “into the fire,” as Steve Kerr said, immediately matching up against 11th-year pro DeAndre Jordan as Kevin Durant’s Nets host the new-look, healthier-but-not-healthy Warriors to kick off the 2020-21 campaign.
For Golden State, Kelly Oubrey, Andrew Wiggins and Eric Paschall will fill out the starting lineup as Draymond Green sits with a foot issue, though Kerr said he’s a possibility for the Christmas Day game.
Durant’s first action since June 10, 2019, when his Warriors tenure and ACL were torn up, will come alongside pal Kyrie Irving, Jordan, Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris.
Wiseman, the 7-foot-1 center, played all of three games at Memphis. Finally he will be unleashed with no eligibility issues, Kerr saying he anticipated using the big man in spurts.
Is he ready? Well…
“I don’t know if he is ready,” Kerr said, honestly, over Zoom from Barclays Center. “We’re throwing him into the fire, but what he’s shown is a maturity that I think allows him to absorb information quickly and understand what we’re looking for and also that this is a process. It’s going to take time for him to grow into the player that he’s capable of becoming, but he’s putting in the work every day and he’s been great to coach and a great teammate.
“And so we’ll give him the start and get him going. Long season from here.”
Wiseman steps in for Kevon Looney and Marquese Chriss, who will see time along with Damion Lee, Kent Bazemore and Brad Wanamaker.
After how Wiseman’s tenure began — with a positive coronavirus test that kept him (and Green) out of practice, it’s impressive he showed enough both in conditioning and potential that he forced his way into the starting lineup.
With Klay Thompson out for the season with an Achilles tear and taking so much hope for the Warriors’ season with him, there may come a time when Wiseman’s growth becomes the most important development of the year. But if he is ready to contribute immediately alongside a healthy Curry, who played just five games last season, the Warriors’ path back to the playoffs, if not the Finals, would be much clearer.
Kerr has said his primary focus will be on how the defense performs, saying repeatedly he strives to have a top-10 defense in basketball. It will take some time to properly measure the statistic, first facing Brooklyn and then Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks on Christmas Day.
Kerr has a new building block for that defense for perhaps the next decade.
“My message to him today was to enjoy it,” the coach said of Wiseman. “This is his first NBA game — he’ll remember this game forever.”