As James Wiseman begins his new chapter with the Detroit Pistons, he has the support of one of his former Golden State Warriors teammates. After Wiseman’s debut with the Pistons, Draymond Green took to Instagram to send the 21-year-old a heartfelt and encouraging message.
Green posted a screenshot of Wiseman’s stat line from his first game as a Piston, along with the caption “Young fella in the mitten, Go be a [star]. Reps, reps, reps.” It was a powerful message from Green, who understands how difficult it can be when transitioning to a new team.
Wiseman put together an encouraging debut in blue and red. In 23 minutes off the bench, Wiseman scored 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting with five rebounds in the Pistons’ 127-109 loss to the Boston Celtics.
The Warriors traded Wiseman to Detroit in the four-team deal that brought Gary Payton II back to the Bay Area. The trade was reported minutes before the February 9th deadline, but it took multiple days to complete due to complications with Payton’s physical. Wiseman officially joined the Pistons on Sunday.
The Warriors’ intentions with the trade were to acquire a player that could help them defend their NBA championship in Payton, while also sending Wiseman to a place where he could log heavy minutes, make mistakes, and learn from them.
Steph Curry echoed the sentiment, saying “We all love James, that’s the biggest thing. It’s a guy you root for, it’s a guy that you know will be able to figure it out, it’s a guy that approaches each part of his job the right way, has a great attitude considering everything he’s been through and the expectations around him and the conversations around him. A lot of confidence that he’ll be around this league a long time. I don’t know what his ceiling is, it’s a guy I want to see figure it out and have an opportunity.”
Wiseman now has a great opportunity to do just that in Detroit. He still has the same support from his veteran teammates who showed him the path to success on basketball’s biggest stage. With Green’s support and Wiseman’s determination, the sky is the limit for the young center.
