James Wiseman's Chance at Knicks Training Camp
James Wiseman will walk into New York Knicks training camp with a minimum deal, a medical file that reads like a cautionary tale and one very real edge.
Mike Brown already believes in him.
The Knicks head coach, still high on Wiseman according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, knows the player behind the numbers and the injuries. That familiarity injects a bit of drama into what might otherwise be a routine preseason sorting exercise for the reigning NBA champions, who have brought five veterans to camp on Exhibit 9 contracts.
Wiseman and Drew Eubanks are the big men auditioning for work in the middle. Bruce Brown, John Konchar and Ochai Agbaji are the perimeter hopefuls trying to elbow their way into the conversation.
New York can carry 15 standard contracts but is expected to start the season with 14 unless a salary-clearing move materializes. Thirteen spots are already guaranteed. One chair, maybe, will still be empty when the music stops on October 21.
Brown’s Long View of Wiseman
Brown’s belief in Wiseman isn’t based on a handful of summer scrimmages or workout clips. It goes back to Golden State.
He was on Steve Kerr’s staff for Wiseman’s first two seasons with the Warriors. He saw the flashes that made the 7-footer the No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft — the soft touch, the above-the-rim finishing, the fluid mobility that coaches dream about at that size. He also saw the stops and starts that derailed any chance at continuity.
As a rookie, Wiseman averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds before a knee injury cut his season short. Then came a full year lost in 2021-22. A trade to Detroit in February 2023 offered a reset, but the clean slate never really took. His next attempt, in Indiana, barely began: five minutes into the 2024-25 opener, he tore his left Achilles.
That run of misfortune makes Wiseman one of the hardest reads in this Knicks camp. On paper, he’s 25 years old, 7 feet tall and built with tools you simply cannot coach. On the floor, the questions are sharper: Can he stay available? Can he anchor a defense? Can he deliver the same effort and focus on every possession?
Brown’s support doesn’t hand him a roster spot. It does guarantee something rarer for a player on an Exhibit 9 — a genuine, extended look from a coach who has already seen the best and worst of him.
A Real Opening in the Frontcourt
This isn’t just a sentimental reunion tour. The Knicks have a practical need.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond sit firmly atop the center depth chart, but the exits of Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti have stripped away the safety net behind them. There is no proven third center on the roster.
That’s where this battle matters. Wiseman offers size, length and vertical spacing as a lob threat, along with rebounding upside if he can stay engaged. Eubanks, now eight years into his NBA career, brings something different: reliability. Coaches know what his defensive floor looks like, and that predictability carries weight on a contender.
The choice may ultimately say as much about the Knicks’ priorities as it does about the players themselves. Opting for Wiseman or Eubanks would shore up the frontcourt and guard against foul trouble or injuries to Towns and Drummond. Holding onto Bruce Brown, Konchar or Agbaji would tilt the roster toward another wing defender and a more seasoned option on the perimeter.
New York has walked this path before. Last fall, the team staged a similar camp competition with Landry Shamet, Malcolm Brogdon, Garrison Mathews, Matt Ryan and Alex Len. Brogdon’s surprise retirement cracked the door open for Shamet, who stepped through, carved out a role in a title run and parlayed it into a four-year, $24 million contract.
That’s the template now hanging in front of Wiseman.
He arrives with a coach who knows his ceiling, a roster that has a clear need and a contract that offers no guarantees. The belief from Brown gives him a real starting point. What happens next will come down to his health, his defense and his willingness to embrace a narrower, role-player version of the star he was once projected to be.
If he can do that, opening night at Madison Square Garden might feel less like a comeback and more like a second career finally getting its true start.
