The return looks to be just on the horizon. The Warriors, now 18-2 after a scrappy win today over the Los Angeles Clippers, have assigned veteran guard Klay Thompson and second-year center James Wiseman to the team’s G-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors per the official Warriors public relations department.

This is a major step in progress for Thompson, who has been ramping up his practice workloads in 5-on-5 drills and, as reported by The Athletic’s Anthony Slater earlier this month, could be returning before the Christmas Day game against the Suns.

Thompson missed both of the last two seasons, first on an ACL tear suffered in the 2019 Finals, and then needing another year after a practice incident caused a tear in his Achilles. One of the NBA’s best two-way players and the greatest shooter to touch a basketball not named Stephen Curry, Thompson should provide an immediate boost to the team no matter how effective he is immediately on return.

Wiseman, whose rookie year was wracked with injuries, underwent surgery to repair a torn Meniscus towards the end of last season. While the team’s numbers were markedly better without him playing, the #2 overall pick in the 2020 draft has been noted to put on over 10 pounds of muscle, as well as working with new Warriors assistant Dejan Milojevic to refine his game to become a more NBA-ready center.

After Friday night’s win over the Blazers, Klay was spotted staying on the team’s bench for a long while after the game ended. He’s expressed how badly he wants to get back out on the court in a myriad of both practice media availability and via his own social media pages.

It goes without saying that Warriors fans will welcome him back with open arms, as Thompson has been a key part of the most recent three championships and has been a favorite of both the Warriors faithful and even other teams around the league.

A lot of fans, on the other hand, have been quick to judge that James Wiseman should not have been picked by the Warriors, who instead still had Charlotte Hornets star Lamelo Ball available on the board. There’s a lot of reasons why this is way too early of an assumption, with Ball’s presence creating a backcourt logjam and his questionable defense not something the Dubs could hide too well given their switch-heavy defensive schemes being just two of them.

Wiseman does not figure to be an immediate impact player the way Klay Thompson will be, but he’d already be a marked upgrade at least offensively over starting center Kevon Looney, who is one of the smallest at his position in the whole league at 6’9. Wiseman’s 7’1 frame and high level of latent athleticism will give the team another dimension of verticality, and with some added time in the G-League, the Warriors can afford to warm him up to the par he should be at.

When the Warriors add their second-best scorer (although Jordan Poole may have something to say about that now) who can lock up anyone on the outside, as well as the only player on their roster who clears a height of 6’10, this already-dangerous team is gonna look a whole lot scarier.

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