James Wiseman still developing ‘feel for the game,’ Andrew Bogut believes

Bogut believes Wiseman still developing ‘feel for the game’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

James Wiseman is part of the Warriors’ youth that the franchise believes can prolong its NBA championship window.

Wiseman has all the raw talent to be the Warriors’ big man for the foreseeable future, which is what Golden State envisioned when they drafted the 21-year-old No. 2 overall in the 2020 NBA draft.

However, former Warriors big man Andrew Bogut stated on the latest episode of “The TK Show” with The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami that Wiseman still has to develop his “feel for the game” and not rely solely on his athletic attributes.

“So the feel for the game think is the interesting one to see if you can pick that up; that’s not easily taught,” Bogut told Kawakami. “Some people say you either have it or you don’t, and that’s true to an extent. But you can pick up a lot by watching a lot of film and just watching guys and mimicking what they do.

“That’s the only way he’s going to pick it up. And you’re his athleticism alone. He’ll be in the league for a long time, but it’s a matter of can he be a consistent contributor for a championship team at this point? No, I think he’s still a bit young, but I think he’s got a chance. It just comes down to that feel.”

While Wiseman brings the athleticism, Bogut feels that until the young big man develops that feel, Kevon Looney is the better fit for the Warriors system.

“If you compare Looney and this is no disrespect to Looney, but if you compare Looney and Wiseman, you know toe-to-toe athletic attributes, you’d say Wiseman is probably more athletic and a better player overall,” Bogut added.

“But Looney just fits with that starting unit because he accepts his role, and he’s happy with that role. Whereas Wiseman, as a young up-and-coming player and thinks, ‘I can do more than this. I can show more than this.'”

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RELATED: What Draymond Green told James Wiseman in Warriors-Nuggets teaching moment

Kicking off the 2022-23 NBA season, Wiseman is off to a good start, showing that he understands his role.

The next step for the former University of Memphis product will be to string together a consistent run and be part of another Warriors championship run, but this time actually be on the floor.

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