SAN FRANCISCO -- Golden State Warriors rookie center James Wiseman will be out at least another week as he recovers from a sprained left wrist. Wiseman, who was initially injured in a win over the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 30, will be reevaluated in seven to 10 days, according to the team.
"He had imaging done [Wednesday] which came out fine, so he's healing," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said prior to Thursday's game against the Orlando Magic. "Unfortunately, he still has pain, so as long as there's pain in the wrist, we have to keep him back. So we have to just watch him over the next week and see how he does and hopefully the pain will subside."
The Warriors were hopeful Wiseman would miss only a week or two because of the injury, but the continued pain in the 19-year-old's wrist has changed the trajectory of his return.
"He's getting individual workouts right now," Kerr said. "He's been doing that the last couple of days, but without much contact with the ball in that hand. So he's sort of doing one-armed workouts, if you will. The good thing is he's able to get on the bike and run up and down the floor and keep his conditioning, but the concern would be that the pain, if he were to reinjure it, now you're lengthening the time that he has pain, which makes him more susceptible for a longer layoff. So the doctor just wants us to be careful with the pain, but he said that the wrist is healing well."
The latest news on Wiseman stings a little more given that veteran center Kevon Looney, who replaced Wiseman in the starting lineup on Jan. 25, has been out since spraining his left ankle on Feb. 2 in a loss to the Boston Celtics. The Warriors originally expected Looney to miss at least two weeks, but Kerr is happy with the way his rehab is coming along.
"Loon looks great," Kerr said. "We'll reevaluate at the two-week mark, but just from a physical standpoint, he looks lean. He's been doing everything possible to keep himself moving and in shape, but he looked really good today and it was good to see him. We missed Loon on the trip and hopefully we'll have good news next week, but we'll see how it goes."
Given that the Warriors have been playing without Marquese Chriss for almost the entire season after the backup center injured an ankle during practice in the first week of the season, Kerr was asked if the organization would consider adding another big man as it continues playing without Wiseman and Looney in the short-term future.
"We're not looking to do anything," he said.