Warriors news: The Golden State Warriors took part in their first practice on Monday ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season, which is slated to start in about two weeks. They were also without two big-name players for reasons head coach Steve Kerr would not discuss.
In talking to the media from San Francisco on Monday, Kerr noted that James Wiseman and Draymond Green were absent from practice.
He wanted to delve further into the reasons, but stopped on a dime due to the current virus-related climate in the United States.
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Warriors news: James Wiseman, Draymond Green absent from practice
“I’m not allowed to comment on that. Make your own deductions,” Kerr said when asked why Wiseman was not on hand for his first practice as an NBA player. The three-time championship winning head coach also noted that Draymond Green was absent.
This comes on the heels of Kerr reporting two unnamed Warriors players had tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
Without getting into detail, it does not take a genius to figure out what is happening here. The NBA set forth protocols that required players return to their home cities to start COVID-19 testing and self-quarantine late last month. The timeline is rather obvious.
Warriors news: What to expect from James Wiseman as a rookie?
On the court, the absence of Golden State’s rookie No. 2 overall pick can’t be seen as a great thing. Wiseman is expect to log large minutes at center in his first NBA season.
Given the short turnaround from their first practice to opening Day on Dec. 22, that might not be the case initially.
If Wiseman is out of the rotation to start the season, another impressive youngster in that of Marquese Chriss will likely start. A top-eight pick of the Sacramento Kings in 2016, the 23-year-old Chriss is coming off a career-best performance. He averaged 9.3 points and 6.2 rebounds on a resounding 55% shooting from the field for the Warriors a season ago.
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Even then, not having Wiseman in the mix to start the truncated “training camp” can’t be seen as a great thing for the Warriors as they look to rebound from an injury-plagued 15-50 2019-20 NBA season.