A breakdown of James Wiseman's game and what the Pacers can expect from him

Injuries and mishandling

Perhaps the most important thing to note with Wiseman is how poorly his career has been handled up to this point. From the jump, it seemed like he was not set to succeed in the league. A combination of injuries and an ugly booster scandal resulted in Wiseman only playing three games for Memphis after being a consensus five-star recruit out of high school and the projected number-one pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Going into his NBA career, while fellow top-three picks Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball were drafted to a team that would focus on their development and pencil them in as the team's future, Wiseman was put in a much different situation.

Taken second overall by the Golden State Warriors who had just come off an injury-riddled season completely unlike their usual quest for dominance, Wiseman was expected to contribute right away as basically a prep-to-pro player with little to no college experience.

This led to friction with the Warriors coaching staff before injuries ultimately ended his season. These injuries would also take away his entire 2021-22 campaign, leaving another season where Wiseman did more watching from the sidelines than actual basketball. Golden State won the 2022 NBA Championship and clearly did not have time to develop the then-22-year-old, shipping him off to Detroit at the 2023 Trade Deadline.

In Detroit, Wiseman was given more minutes and a starting role upon arrival, but the Detroit Pistons are not exactly a team where projects come to thrive. In Detroit, Wiseman found one coach who believed in him and would give him time to develop, that being Dwayne Casey.

Casey gave Wiseman a starting spot and plenty of minutes on a rebuilding team and was the first NBA coach who developed a real relationship with the youngster, a relationship that was not replicated with Detroit's coach for the 2023-24 season, Monty Williams. At this point, it is worth noting that Casey is good friends with Rick Carlisle, Indiana's current coach, so maybe some knowledge could be rubbed off in those exchanges.

With Detroit unwilling to retain him in the 2024 offseason by making him an unrestricted free agent, Wiseman found himself on the fringes of the league. This two-year deal with the Indiana Pacers may be his last chance to prove that he belongs in the league, both due to factors in his control and out of his control.

While it is true that Wiseman has shown little to nothing to justify him being the second pick in an otherwise stacked 2020 Draft Class, he is absolutely not a lost cause yet. If he is serious about staying in the league, he will come into training camp with a chip on his shoulder ready to produce at a high level.

Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan have a very sharp eye for talent, as shown by their ability to turn around the careers of many a 2020 Draft Class member before Wiseman, but this will be their biggest challenge yet. Perhaps a good organization with time to spare and more attention on him is all Wiseman needs to improve and become a steady rotation player. We will have to find out in the future.