Warriors Assign Klay Thompson, James Wiseman To G League

November 28, 2021

The Warriors have assigned shooting guard Klay Thompson and center James Wiseman to the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors, signaling that both players are nearing a return to game action.

Golden State announced the moves in a press release on Sunday. The assignments are highly likely for practice purposes only.

Thompson is hoping to return from a torn Achilles before the 41-game mark, but stressed he can’t say for sure of that will happen.

“I don’t know. It’s really hard to say. It’s definitely a feel thing,” Thompson recently told reporters, via Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Hopefully sooner rather than later because I am really excited to get back to balling.”

Thompson has actually missed two straight seasons after tearing his ACL during the 2019 Finals.

Thompson, 31, is 6-foot-6 and averaged 21.5 points in his last season of 2018-19. He had been on a run of five straight seasons of averaging at least 20 points when the first injury occurred.

Now, Thompson thinks the Finals are again within sight.

“We are now a type of team where it’s championship or bust,” he said. “That’s a really cool position to be in. Not a lot of guys get to experience that.”

Meanwhile, Wiseman has not played since undergoing surgery on April 15 to repair a right meniscal tear.

He was inconsistent as a rookie before suffering the injury April 10 vs. the Rockets, missing the season’s final 19 games.

Before that, he averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in 39 appearances.

Wiseman, 20, was the No. 2 overall draft pick out of Memphis in 2020. The Warriors recently exercised the third-year option on his contract.

“The Warriors have shown they’re good enough to let Wiseman develop his skills on a proper timetable,” Bruce Jenkins of the SF Chronicle wrote. “It’s terribly fashionable to dwell upon his limitations during a truncated rookie season, but I’m thinking we’ll be pleasantly surprised when we rediscover what a special athlete he is.”