It’s hardly fair to cherry pick, especially after more than 2½ years of game film. And while two plays on a basketball court hardly illuminate a career — let alone define it — here we are, finally past the NBA’s trade deadline, trying to make sense of Troy Weaver’s vision.
The Detroit Pistons general manager traded Saddiq Bey for James Wiseman on Thursday afternoon. Oh, there were other players involved and some picks and even another team, but what matters is that Bey is gone, and Wiseman is here.
And so, two plays:
The first came when Wiseman and Bey were rookies and sharing a floor at Little Caesars Arena. This was late December 2020, the fourth game of the season. Klay Thompson was out for the year rehabbing a torn Achilles. Wiseman, who’d played all of three college games, was 19 and trying to learn how to be on the same court as Steph Curry.
In a four-point game late in the fourth, the 7-foot Wiseman leapt and blocked Mason Plumlee’s attempted floater just inside the free throw line. He grabbed the loose ball, dribbled the length of the court, and used the Eurostep before dunking.
He was fluid and aggressive and after the game — which the Warriors won — Kerr and Curry both mentioned Giannis Antetokounmpo. They didn’t say Wiseman was Antetokounmpo. Just that he looked like him in that moment.
That was one week into his NBA career.
INSIDE THE DEADLINE:Pistons’ James Wiseman trade might be Troy Weaver’s biggest gamble yet
Two months later, his season was finished when he tore his right meniscus.
The other play happened less than two weeks ago in Dallas, when the Pistons were playing the Mavericks and Bey got the ball on the right wing in a two-point game with a minute left in the fourth quarter.
Bey beat his man off the dribble, got into the lane and leapt toward the rim and Luka Doncic, who slid over to contest, leaving Jalen Duren wide open under the other side of the rim. Instead of dumping it off, Bey tried to float around Doncic and flip a left-handed layup in.
His shot hit the underside of the rim. Dallas rebounded. Bey smacked his head in frustration as he ran back on defense. Duren shook his head in frustration.
Someday, Bey may learn to make that pass. More critically, he may learn to see that pass. Weaver is betting that he won’t, at least not consistently.
He’s also betting Bey won’t improve his finishing much around the rim, or his on-ball perimeter defense, or his off-the-dribble shooting. He’s betting that Bey, whom he drafted with the 19th pick in 2020, is, at best, a catch-and-shoot player who will hover around 35-37% on 3-pointers.
After 2½ seasons, this is a pretty good bet.
In fact, it’s a better bet that Bey is much closer to his ceiling than Wiseman is to his, and Wiseman had a much higher ceiling to start.
This is the gamble Weaver made Thursday. It was also a move to clear room for Isaiah Livers, whose shot is a bit purer than Bey’s and whose defense is a bit better.
As for Wiseman’s fit?
He’ll fit fine if he can build on the promise of his rookie season, in which he played in just 39 games before he got hurt. In fact, he only has 60 NBA appearances, period. Mostly due to injury. But also due to circumstance.
Kerr runs a complex read-and-react offense built around Curry and, to a lesser extent, Thompson. It involves constant motion, back cuts, screening and re-screening, and moving the ball.
It doesn’t favor big men on the block. Nor does it favor big men shooting elbow jump shots and 3-pointers, mostly because those shots are meant for the guards.
Those are shots Wiseman can make, by the way. And not just occasionally. Watch his rookie tape and you’ll see a smooth and confident stroke.
Reports suggest Weaver had Wiseman at the top of his draft board in 2020, ahead of eventual No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards and No. 3 pick LaMelo Ball; in a vacuum, it’s not hard to see why. Seven footers with his skill and bounce are rare.
No, he is not Antetokounmpo. If we must draw a player comparison, how about a taller version of Chris Bosh?
That’s if it works out, of course, and that’s obviously a big if. But for a team that’s hanging around the top of the lottery and still isn’t quite sure what it has in its core group, why not try and add a piece that’s unlike anyone else on the roster?
Forget, if you can, that the team already has four bigs. And forget that Duren plays center, too. Because if Wiseman pops, he’ll be able to stretch the floor even when Duren is on the floor.
Think of Robert Williams and Al Horford, say. Williams is the rim-protector and rebounder (Duren), Horford is the shotmaker in space (Wiseman).
It can work, at least in theory, and is working for a current title contender. Yeah, it’s a long shot. Wiseman practically jumped from high school to the NBA and found himself in rehab and on the bench as he struggled to fit with Curry and the Warriors.
Curry, though, is unlike any player in the league because of his movement, and while all teams desire some movement, learning to play alongside such a unique force isn’t for everyone.
Weaver is hoping that more minutes and a less complicated system will help unlock Wiseman’s gifts. He’s also banking that no team can have enough talent.
The Pistons could surely use some more.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Wiseman’s block and Eurostep vs. the Pistons came six weeks into the season. This has been corrected to one week, as the NBA season in 2020-21 started in late December due to the pandemic.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.