Steph explains what Warriors need for Wiseman to be ‘force'

The Warriors drafted James Wiseman with the No. 2 overall pick with the belief that he is a once-in-a-generation talent who will become a franchise building block.

The 19-year-old will be thrown into the fire early, with the NBA season starting in just 12 days. Steph Curry knows Wiseman can give the Warriors a lot early on as he gets his feet wet at the professional level.

"He needs to get infused into the system," Curry told 95.7 The Game's "Damon, Ratto and Kolsky." "He needs to get up to speed as fast as possible. He's just going to be a force, man. To the point of all the things we need to learn as fast as possible, I can't imagine for a 19-year-old to be able to ingest all that information, go out and play, but the things that he does well, you really can't teach. His size, his athleticism, his presence to protect the paint, the speed to run up and down the floor, put pressure on the rim, we can use that right away.

"So you're going to see a different player probably from Game 1 to Game 72, but early in the season he should be able to show what he's about and provide a lot of value for us on the interior and play Warrior basketball. So I'm excited, man. You can see the look in his eyes. He's chomping at the bit right now."

Wiseman has been unable to practice early on in training camp but has been able to watch the last two days from the balcony. Prior to the beginning of training camp, general manager and president of basketball operations Bob Myers announced that two players had tested positive for COVID-19.

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Wiseman was the No. 1 recruit coming out of high school but played just three games at Memphis before withdrawing from school after the NCAA deemed he received improper benefits from coach Penny Hardaway. When Hardaway was Wiseman's high school coach he helped Wiseman's family move to Memphis but was deemed to be a booster for the school at that time. The NCAA suspended Wiseman for 12 games and asked him to repay the $11,500 that Hardaway gave his family during Wiseman's junior year of high school.

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When he is able to take the floor, Wiseman will compete with Kevon Looney and Marquese Chriss for minutes at the center position. The 7-foot-1 center should be able to play a big role almost immediately for the Warriors, serving as a rim-running threat on offense and a defensive eraser on the other end.

Everyone in the Warriors' organization is excited about Wiseman, and Curry is no different.

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