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James Wiseman is taking a unique path to the NBA after playing just three games in college before leaving Memphis to prepare for the 2020 draft.

"Most executives league-wide see (Wiseman) as a likely top-five pick, and as one of the favorites to end up in the top-three," reports Sam Vecenie of The Athletic.

Wiseman could drop further depending on how the lottery plays out.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks possibly filled their need at center at the deadline, which puts their interest in Wiseman into question. The Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks have young centers already in place in Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson.

Via Sam Vecenie/The Athletic

His decision to skip the rest of the year could cost him millions. Somebody gave him bad advice. At least in school he could have at least make it hard for teams to pass him. Or drop further.

mplsfonz23 wrote:His decision to skip the rest of the year could cost him millions. Somebody gave him bad advice. At least in school he could have at least make it hard for teams to pass him. Or drop further.

Kanter went top three in the 2011 draft without playing a single collegiate game. Kyrie went first overall in that same draft and only played eleven. Wiseman will be a top five pick, if the dumb teams at the top of the draft want to ride with the Capelas and Drummonds of the world, a smart team will gladly trade up to take him, the same way Dallas stole Luka from Atlanta after the Kings and Suns decided to pass.

Cassius wrote:

mplsfonz23 wrote:His decision to skip the rest of the year could cost him millions. Somebody gave him bad advice. At least in school he could have at least make it hard for teams to pass him. Or drop further.

Kanter went top three in the 2011 draft without playing a single collegiate game. Kyrie went first overall in that same draft and only played eleven. Wiseman will be a top five pick, if the dumb teams at the top of the draft want to ride with the Capelas and Drummonds of the world, a smart team will gladly trade up to take him, the same way Dallas stole Luka from Atlanta after the Kings and Suns decided to pass.

I hear ya. Just seems like he could have been a lock at number one, and still could end up going first.

But a drop to 3-5 cost millions. Pretty sure he's not going to sweat that as long as he gets to play.
Interesting to see who has the #1 pick.

I am hoping GS gets knocked out of that spot. Preferably the Wolves jump into that spot. It would be hard for me to Pass on that talent. I would move Towns to the 4 considering the NBA is positionless basketball now.

who are the other f'ing four,,,,,lamelo????

unpopular opinion: If Knicks land top pick, or otherwise are in a position to draft Wiseman, they should move Mitchell Robinson for a either a young talented player with obvious upside or top 5 pick. I love Mitch Rob as much as the next Knicks fan, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Wiseman will be much better in the long run.

mplsfonz23 wrote:His decision to skip the rest of the year could cost him millions. Somebody gave him bad advice. At least in school he could have at least make it hard for teams to pass him. Or drop further.

Weird sentence to throw in there at the end...
Was that an edit?

"Or drop further" - if you say staying in school might've caused him to drop further then maybe it wasn't bad advice by whoever recommended he leave


Maybe I misinterpreted what you meant?

DoItALL9 wrote:

mplsfonz23 wrote:His decision to skip the rest of the year could cost him millions. Somebody gave him bad advice. At least in school he could have at least make it hard for teams to pass him. Or drop further.

Weird sentence to throw in there at the end...
Was that an edit?

"Or drop further" - if you say staying in school might've caused him to drop further then maybe it wasn't bad advice by whoever recommended he leave


Maybe misinterpreted what you meant?

Yes, Staying in school could have exposed him if he had any flaws giving teams pause as to if he's a fit for them. I expect him to go top 5, just depends who's wheeling and dealing on draft night.

saltybs wrote:unpopular opinion: If Knicks land top pick, or otherwise are in a position to draft Wiseman, they should move Mitchell Robinson for a either a young talented player with obvious upside or top 5 pick. I love Mitch Rob as much as the next Knicks fan, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Wiseman will be much better in the long run.

Yes as much as I like Mitch it would be foolish to pass on Wiseman just because we have Mitch on our roster.

The guard prospects in this draft have not been consistent enough to dislodge Wiseman as the #1 pick in my view.

No doy. This is a terrible draft. No way he falls out of the top three. He’s probably been out there busting his tail working out and keeping in shape. Not playing a year of college ball is not a huge deal anymore, like everyone keeps trying to say. Your sport is dying and after the next CBA almost all of the top kids will get to join a professional team with a real training staff and a paycheck. Thank goodness.

Sorry for my derailed tangent, but yeah, Wiseman will be fine and I’d still take him first overall. Ball and Edwards are decent, but run of the mill inefficient scoring guards.

Not the safest bet but one of the highest potentials for sure. Not sure how you can pass on him.

I get it he is big, atheletic and can score buckets at the rim. However, an All-Star center these days need to be mobile and shoot from range which he cannot.

All indicators point to that James Wiseman will be the next Bam Adebayo. I am sure he is worth a first round draft pick, perhaps even top 10, but that's as far as he goes.

saltybs wrote:unpopular opinion: If Knicks land top pick, or otherwise are in a position to draft Wiseman, they should move Mitchell Robinson for a either a young talented player with obvious upside or top 5 pick. I love Mitch Rob as much as the next Knicks fan, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Wiseman will be much better in the long run.

Yeah, there is no one on the Knicks that has cemented a position that would preclude them from drafting or trading for or signing anyone else.

moocow007 wrote:

saltybs wrote:unpopular opinion: If Knicks land top pick, or otherwise are in a position to draft Wiseman, they should move Mitchell Robinson for a either a young talented player with obvious upside or top 5 pick. I love Mitch Rob as much as the next Knicks fan, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Wiseman will be much better in the long run.

Yeah, there is no one on the Knicks that has cemented a position that would preclude them from drafting or trading for or signing anyone else.

Mitch is a keeper. I will take him over Wiseman any day

mplsfonz23 wrote:His decision to skip the rest of the year could cost him millions. Somebody gave him bad advice. At least in school he could have at least make it hard for teams to pass him. Or drop further.

It also would have given scouts and execs more opportunities to poke holes in his game.

Looks like Dwight Howard but a more agile version who might not get the injuries. It's a very nice evenly poised body he has. My guess is he has a very long and successful career. I can't remember the last center who had a body as ideal as Wiseman's . . . it's very well balanced.

But that said, I'm all about the small ball. Out of the first round for me.

Temuhjan wrote:I get it he is big, atheletic and can score buckets at the rim. However, an All-Star center these days need to be mobile and shoot from range which he cannot.

All indicators point to that James Wiseman will be the next Bam Adebayo. I am sure he is worth a first round draft pick, perhaps even top 10, but that's as far as he goes.

He is very mobile. He has shown he will likely be capable of defending in space, not just in the paint. He also took enough shots from three in the Nike EYBL to assume that he makes some threes in practice (maybe not NBA distance). He has shown that he is a willing face up shooter. His 70% free throw shooting in his 3 college games shows an improvement over his free throw shooting in the Nike EYBL as well, showing that he could likely improve as a face up shooter. There is plenty of evidence that he can become an elite modern type center. In such a weak draft, it would make no sense for him to fall out of the top 5, and it doesn't look like a bad bet to project him as the best player coming out of this draft.

To people who are saying maybe top ten. Are there really five or ten guys in this draft you’re taking ahead of him? No one ever takes that into account when discussing draft range. Sometimes the draft pool just sucks, and this is one of those years. If I can get the next Bam Adebayo out of this group of available players, I’m taking him first overall.

BigGargamel wrote:To people who are saying maybe top ten. Are there really five or ten guys in this draft you’re taking ahead of him? No one ever takes that into account when discussing draft range. Sometimes the draft pool just sucks, and this is one of those years. If I can get the next Bam Adebayo out of this group of available players, I’m taking him first overall.

So you're taking Okongwu #1?

Temuhjan wrote:

moocow007 wrote:

saltybs wrote:unpopular opinion: If Knicks land top pick, or otherwise are in a position to draft Wiseman, they should move Mitchell Robinson for a either a young talented player with obvious upside or top 5 pick. I love Mitch Rob as much as the next Knicks fan, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Wiseman will be much better in the long run.

Yeah, there is no one on the Knicks that has cemented a position that would preclude them from drafting or trading for or signing anyone else.

Mitch is a keeper. I will take him over Wiseman any day

Mitch is for sure a “keeper” in the sense that he is a plus player/has positive impact on the court. But my hot take is whether, in today’s NBA, a championship team can spend “max level” money (or near max level money) on a center who cannot create offense for himself, and generally only adds offense when part of a pick and roll set. He’s a terror as a roll man sure, but putting aside that and his top tier D, is that worth a max slot? How is his ceiling any different than Deandre Jordan in his prime, or other bigs like that? Who among that player typology occupied a max slot on a championship caliber squad in the last 5 years or so?

My point is that a player of his type is awesome to have, and definitely positively impacts the game, but perhaps is more of a luxury than anything. I’m not sure a team can have a guy like that in one of 2 or 3 max slots and be a championship squad. You need more offensive versatility out of that spot.

Love Mitch tho. Don’t want to lose him. Just thinking about whether he can be a cornerstone of a championship team with what he brings against what he’s going to command on the market in 2 years.