James Wiseman won’t return this weekend

When the Golden State Warriors sent 2020 No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman to the G League two weeks ago, it was easy to circle this week’s game against the Chicago Bulls as the likely time for him to return.

As Steve Kerr announced the move, he said the team wanted to give Wiseman a good run, and that he’d be there “maybe 10 straight days.”

10 days in Santa Cruz would have put Wiseman returning for the team’s win over the Utah Jazz, but that home game was immediately followed by a multi-city road trip. The Dubs extending Wiseman’s G League stay by a few days, and having him return for their upcoming three-game homestand, seemed pretty logical.

That’s not going to be the case, though. At Thursday’s practice, Kerr announced that Wiseman will not be with the team for their back-to-back against the Bulls and Houston Rockets on Friday and Saturday. Instead, Wiseman will remain with Santa Cruz, as they play their own back-to-back on those days, with both games being road contests against the Stockton Kings.

Santa Cruz then has five consecutive days off, so it will be interesting to see if the Warriors bring Wiseman up for Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers, or if they keep him in the G League so that he can get some vital practice reps.

Kerr said he wants Wiseman to “play, play, play, and build that foundation,” and called his stint in the G League “is all really positive stuff.”

Wiseman has played in five games with Santa Cruz, and is averaging 15.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game, while shooting 58.2% from the field and 28.6% from three-point range. While Santa Cruz certainly can’t replicate playing offense with Steph Curry or defense with Draymond Green, they play similar offensive and defensive systems as Golden State, precisely for moments like this.

Since Wiseman probably won’t be in the rotation anytime soon, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him have a long-term stay in Santa Cruz.