Three reasons Cavs should avoid James Wiseman in 2020 NBA Draft

Team defensive concerns

It’s not as if Wiseman can’t eventually help the Cavs on the defensively of the floor, as he shown he’s more than capable of affecting shots in the paint and his 7-foot-6 wingspan is definitely a huge selling point for a team wanting to draft him.

That being said, in the modern league of which Wasserman alluded to, bigs that aren’t floor spacers/impact passers and are not really capable of switching out in pick-and-roll coverage are essentially not impact players in terms of the winning sense.

While Drummond, for instance, is not all that capable in switchout situations, he at least has been a player that’s shown really good feel as an interior rotator, and that’s led to him always getting his share of deflections in games.

While I understand Wiseman is nowhere close to as experienced as the 26-year-old Drummond, Wiseman, given his lack of willingness to consistently rotate and limited team defensive awareness, does not project as a player that plays passing lanes nearly the way Drummond has. Drummond is sixth in the NBA in deflections per game, at this point this season thus far, according to NBA.com.

Anyhow, with Cleveland ranking second-last in defensive rating this season thus far and having their share of perimeter defensive concerns, it’s completely unclear if Wiseman can end up positively affecting the team defense. He does not have nearly the team defensive feel of Okongwu, the aforementioned Okoro, nor Avdija and even LaMelo Ball, previously of the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks, has shown improved team defensive feel and he has a much higher ceiling offensively.

Wiseman also does not project to have close to the impact in the team defensive realm as say, Larry Nance Jr., who is not nearly the rim protector Wiseman is but has always gotten the most of his ability with his terrific timing and discipline when closing out, contesting shots as a rotator and has consistently made an impact as a stunt/hedge player in closing off passing lanes.

Can Wiseman develop better feel as a team defender and become more well-versed/willing in regards to closeouts?

Sure, he could, but the signs point to his team defensive feel being a huge question mark against NBA players. Plus, with Wiseman’s motor being one, too, along with it being unclear if he has switchout potential at all, it’s hard to say if he could actually impact Cleveland’s defense all that much in coming years.

If he’s available at the Cavs’ selection in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Wine and Gold should avoid Wiseman.