Draymond Green Thinks James Wiseman Would Be 'Great Add' to Warriors in Draft

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green offered something of an endorsement for 2020 NBA draft prospect James Wiseman on Tuesday. 

During an appearance on ESPN's Jalen & Jacoby (h/t Ali Thanawalla of NBC Sports Bay Area), Green expressed his belief that Wiseman could be a good fit in Golden State if the Warriors select him in the draft:

"I've seen some clips of his workouts and highlights, and he looks to be pretty mobile, a pretty athletic guy. So with our speed and pace, the way we play, I think he would definitely be a great add if that's case, but I don't really know what pick we're going to get or what pick he's going to go. I'm a living testament to that. You never know how the draft is going to go and how the cards may fall."

Wiseman is a 7'0" center who was ranked as the No. 1 overall recruit in the country by 247Sports when he signed on to play at the University of Memphis. Despite playing just three games for the Tigers, Wiseman is a potential top-five pick and has a good chance to be the first center off the board.

The center's college career was cut short because he was ruled ineligible due to Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway helping Wiseman's family monetarily when they moved from Nashville to Memphis in 2017 before coaching at Memphis.

While Wiseman was eventually reinstated, he decided to sit out the rest of the season and prepare for the 2020 NBA draft.

In the three collegiate games Wiseman played, he dominated to the tune of 19.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per contest. If he can bring anything close to that level of production to the NBA, he would fill a huge need for the Warriors.

Provided everyone is healthy, the Warriors should be set at the other four positions aside from center with Green, Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. Kevon Looney and Marquese Chriss can play center, but neither of them possess the high ceiling that Wiseman does.

In addition to being a dominant presence inside on both ends of the floor, Wiseman is highly athletic for his size, so he should be able to keep up within Golden State's up-tempo attack.

With Thompson missing the entire season and Curry missing most of it due to injury, the Warriors struggled mightily in 2019-20. After reaching five consecutive NBA Finals, they finished with the league's worst record at 15-50.

Due to their record, the Warriors are one of three teams tied with the best chance to land the No. 1 overall pick at 14 percent when the NBA draft lottery is held Aug. 25.

In his latest NBA mock draft, Bleacher Report NBA draft expert Jonathan Wasserman projected that Wiseman will go third overall to the Washington Wizards with the Warriors then selecting Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton fifth overall.

Golden State may not even get the chance to take Wiseman depending on where the team lands in the lottery, but if Wiseman is on the board when the Warriors pick, it would likely be difficult to pass up on a player of his caliber at a position of need.