Andre Iguodala could return tomorrow; Wiseman out until 2022

One day after Steve Kerr announced that Andre Iguodala was expected to return for the Golden State Warriors’ upcoming road trip, the timetable seems to have moved up.

Iguodala has been out since November 16th with soreness in his knee. Initially, he was held out as an injury management for a sore hip, but since then it’s been his knee that kept him out. The team has been understandably cautious with Iguodala, who at age 38 is the league’s send-oldest player. They’ve gone 8-2 in his absence, but his ball handling and defense are always an asset, and mean that the fans’ least-favorite Warrior, Chris Chiozza, may not play as much.

Andre is apparently feeling better, or he’s excited to play in Steph’s longshot bid to tie or pass Ray Allen’s career record for three-pointers when the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Chase Center Wednesday night, before the team heads out on a five-game East Coast road trip. Curry needs 15 made threes to tie, which would be a single-game record, but considering how Portland plays defense, it’s not an entirely outlandish idea. For his career with the Warriors, Iguodala is 14-4 against the Blazers.

The injury news wasn’t nearly as encouraging for the Warriors second-year center, James Wiseman, who still isn’t cleared for full-contact 5-on-5 basketball. Since he still hasn’t scrimmaged, it seems unlikely he’d be back on the court before the end of the year. While it feels like he’s been out forever - his last game was April 10, and he had knee surgery April 15th - he’s still within the normal 6-9-month range of recovery from a meniscus repair. As he wasn’t even allowed to jump before the season began, it’s not unexpected, though slightly frustrating to the fans.

While the team’s messaging and timeline have changed, with Bob Myers and Steve Kerr originally expressing optimism that Wiseman could be ready for training camp, it appears they’re erring on the side of caution with the young big man. After all, a 20-4 record removes a lot of the urgency to rush anyone back from injury, whether they’re 38 or 20.

Meanwhile, rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody will be joining the Santa Cruz Warriors this week for two games against the Agua Caliente Clippers, Wednesday and Thursday. That means they’ll miss the Portland game, but rejoin the big club for the Saturday night game against Philadelphia. Kuminga got to play the entire 4th quarter against Orlando, scoring nine points and adding three rebounds and a steal. He also jumped so high on a putback dunk he almost hit his head on the rim.

Moody also had a steal and made his only shot in 4:30 of action. For the G League season, Kuminga is averaging 15.8 points per game and 7.2 rebounds, with two steals, while Moody is averaging 21.7 PPG and five boards.