James Wiseman’s push to get back on an NBA roster got a real boost Tuesday night, even if the result around him was a disaster.
With the Knicks sitting most of their regulars against the Toronto Raptors, Wiseman got a start and made the most of the chance. The former Golden State Warriors big man finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in under 24 minutes, flashing the kind of efficiency that keeps a preseason case alive. He hit 7 of 8 shots from the floor and looked comfortable enough doing it.
That mattered more for Wiseman than the final score. New York was blasted in Toronto by 50 points, and the Knicks didn’t exactly field a lineup built to win the game. Jose Alvarado, Miles McBride, Bruce Brown, Mohamed Diawara and Wiseman formed the starting five, a group that says plenty about how much the team was willing to experiment.
For Wiseman, the bigger story was opportunity. He started ahead of veterans Drew Eubanks and Tony Bradley, who played 15 and nine minutes, respectively. In a battle for a standard contract and a place on the opening night roster, that kind of usage can speak loudly.
His connection to Knicks head coach Mike Brown could help too. Brown was formerly an assistant with Golden State, giving Wiseman a familiar voice in his corner.
Even so, the outlook is still far from secure. Noah Rubin of NBC Sports was blunt about Wiseman’s chances of becoming more than a depth piece.
"Performances like this will help make his case, though even if he does make the roster, or ends up signing elsewhere, it is unlikely he plays a significant role," Rubin wrote after the game.
That doesn’t mean the door is closed. The Knicks have reason to keep looking for help behind Karl-Anthony Towns, whose first two years in New York have been healthy overall but still sit against a backdrop of past injury concerns.
The team also added Andre Drummond after losing Mitchell Robinson to the Boston Celtics, but Drummond is hardly a long-term answer at this stage of his career. If Wiseman keeps producing, there could be minutes available.
Still, one strong night in a blowout loss only goes so far. The Knicks will need more than an 18-point double-double before they hand him anything meaningful.
Wiseman wasn’t the only former Warrior big man on the floor in Toronto. Trayce Jackson-Davis, also trying to carve out a rotation role after leaving Golden State in February, delivered a highlight block and finished with nine points, three rebounds and two blocks in 10 minutes off the bench for the Raptors.
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