Nevius: Warriors need a better plan for ‘the other guys’

A funny thing happened to James Wiseman last Thursday night in Brooklyn.

He got some playing time.

Wiseman logged 28 minutes, the most he’s played all year. He responded with a career-high 30 points on 12-of-14 shooting, six rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.

He got dunks, drove to the rim, showed off some low-post moves — connecting on short hooks with both his right and dominant left hand. He hit a fadeaway baseline jumper and even swished a three-pointer.

Of course, it wasn’t as if Steve Kerr had much choice. JaMychal Green was ill and Kevon Looney got into early foul trouble. Besides, the game was out of hand — the Nets scored 91 points in the first half and won by 30. No need to wear out the regulars.

So you can say Wiseman was playing during garbage time. And you can pick apart his defensive lapses. He’s still prone to foolish fouls, although he only had one against the Nets.

But this wasn’t a G League game. The Nets are one of the hottest teams in the league. And there are probably thousands of players who have appeared in an NBA game and never scored 30 points.

Other teams have to look at the tape of Wiseman’s game and say, “Yep, that kid has potential.” It was a chance to show what he could do.

The question is: what do the Warriors want him to do?

Because it seems like what they really want is for him to be Looney. And you know Looney’s job description: set a screen, set another screen and run down and battle for a rebound.

Wiseman, we are told, just doesn’t fit in. He gets in the way of Steph Curry, when he’s on the court. And when he makes a mistake, Kerr reaches for the hook. The coach keeps saying what Wiseman needs is playing time, but he seems reluctant to give it to him.

Even after a 17-point first half, and seven-of-seven shooting in Brooklyn, Wiseman wasn’t back on the floor until the final five minutes of the third quarter. The Warriors were down double digits at the time.

The thesis is pretty clear. Kerr intends to rely on the old warhorses — Curry, Klay Thompson, Looney and Draymond Green — and then fill in with Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and a revolving door of free agents and youngsters who are struggling to grasp the Warrior Way.

OK, but we’re nearly to the new year. We’re 33 games into the season and there is no established second-team rotation.

Kerr’s Wheel of Fortune lineups change by the game, and sometimes during the game. Players like Moses Moody are in, get some time on the floor, and then fall out of favor and hit the bench.

At some point the question is going to have to be asked:

You have three young first-round lottery picks, right? And you can’t make it work?

Something is wrong here. Either the team didn’t draft well (unlikely). Or the players — Wiseman, Moody and Jonathan Kuminga — don’t fit Kerr’s rigid system.

Given the short leash for players, it seems to be the latter. They look afraid to make a mistake, and for good reason. Screw up and you’re out.

And, when they hit the floor together, we are told they don’t mesh well. That they lack chemistry.

Which would be logical, since they rarely play as a group.

This would be different if it was working. But the second unit has been a problem all year. The team returned to town below .500. Kerr can put his faith in nice-guy journeymen like Ty Jerome and Anthony Lamb, but they are not long-term solutions. Where’s the building for the future we heard about at the first of the year?

Way back in the dark ages, when I covered the Raiders in the ’80s, Al Davis was still running things. He had a plan for young players. He’d give them a very specific assignment — say, kickoff coverage. And they’d do that every game.

By the midpoint of the season, it was routine. The guy became comfortable with it. And then Al would give them another job. And so on.

Now, can anyone explain what Moody’s role is right now?

Wiseman, though, is the acid test. He’s in the third year of his four-year, $40 million contract, meaning the team is going to have to make a decision on an extension at the end of this year. Otherwise he’ll go into next season with an expiring contract.

Wouldn’t this be the time to see what he can do as a second-team regular?

Because the old warhorse theory is looking shaky. Curry is hurt, which happens when you’re 34. The team is now admitting that Thompson’s knee is flaring up, and he isn’t available for back-to-back games.

Wiggins has been dinged. And apparently, Andre Iguodala was just brought on as a sort of village elder, to provide insight and perspective, because he hasn’t even put on a uniform.

I’d also say that The Punch, when Green hit Poole in the face two months ago, may not have been forgotten. It certainly wasn’t in Brooklyn, when fans chanted “Draymond punched you” while Poole was shooting free throws.

The front-office reaction to the incident — they seemed more upset about the video leaking than Green sucker-punching a teammate — sent a message. Draymond gets a pass.

The team didn’t suspend him. He took some days off but no official benching.

And in the days that have followed, Kerr’s support for Green has been effusive, even as the volatile forward has rung up nine technical fouls (second-most in the league) and an ejection.

It also seems to have affected Green. A year ago he was touting the “new media,” meaning guys like him who had worn a uniform. He scoffed at pundits and analysts who had never played in an NBA game. (To which ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith replied, “Neither have 99% of your listeners.”)

At the time, Green was posting at least a podcast a week and talking of a lucrative career in broadcasting.

This year, after The Punch on Oct. 6, Green hasn’t dropped a podcast since Oct. 21.

Admittedly, he’s active on the floor and making smart plays. But it is hard to get over the fact that one of your team leaders can’t control his temper, to the point of brawling with a co-worker.

The Warriors are back home for a Christmas Day game. The opponent is Memphis, which is not only talented but has a serious attitude about the Warriors. They are going to come to town breathing fire. It will be an excellent test of the current state of the franchise.

Given that the team has eight home games in 22 days coming up, and their success at Chase Center (12-2), they may well put together some wins. And if so, we will likely hear that they’ve righted the ship and all is well.

And maybe it will be. But more and more it looks like they need to get out of the past and start developing the future.

Contact C.W. Nevius at cw.nevius@pressdemocrat.com. Twitter: @cwnevius