NEW ORLEANS — James Wiseman describes the time between Oct. 27 and this week as “a lot of hard nights.”
The emotional swing of the early season was dramatic for the No. 2 overall pick. On Oct. 25, he not only played in his first regular season game since tearing his left Achilles tendon in the first game of the 2024-25 season, he started at center with the Pacers playing in Memphis where he played high school and college basketball.
But two days later, he was waived as the numbers game on the Pacers’ roster had not worked out in his favor. The Pacers had kept four centers through training camp, but they found it necessary to cut one to use a roster spot on a guard thanks to injuries to Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin tacked on to the Achilles tendon tear suffered by Tyrese Haliburton in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Wiseman was the odd man out. Rather than suit up against the Mavericks, he flew back to Indianapolis where his family met him to help him work through it.
“As soon as it happened, my mom came down, my family came down,” Wiseman said. “I was able to grieve for a little bit. Get that out. You can’t suppress that type of stuff. But as soon as I landed I got in the weight room and used all my anger and kind of worked out. Just trying to get all that out. I just kept working ever since then. I haven’t stopped.”
And eventually, the numbers game broke his way, though it’s only a temporary situation. With center Tony Bradley dealing with a fractured right thumb, the Pacers announced Saturday that they have signed Wiseman to a 10-day hardship exception contract, releasing forward Gabe McGlothan from his 10-day deal to make it happen. Wiseman actually takes over McGlothan’s 10-day deal — which he was three days in to — so he is under contract for six days in which the Pacers will play three games. Bradley is still active and the Pacers have four centers on the roster again, but with several other players having since returned from injury, it makes sense to use the extra roster spot for depth at the 5.
Still, that means Wiseman is back in the league after almost two months out of basketball, which is is invigorating in itself. Wiseman said he got a call on Thursday night shortly after Bradley’s injury and was told he had to pack up his stuff and fly to New Orleans to meet the team.
“It’s a quick turnaround,” Wiseman said. “But I was just blessed to even get the call. It’s hard to maintain being in the league. Just being blessed to get the opportunity is a blessing.”
Wiseman knows quite well how difficult it is to stick in the league because he’s been dealing with nearly constant trials since he’s been in it. He was a top-of-the-line recruit out of high school and was the No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft despite playing just three games at Memphis before being ruled ineligible for extra-benefits reasons. He had a strong start with the Warriors but tore his meniscus in his first season and struggled to get any kind of bearing after that. He played just 60 games in three seasons with the Warriors, missing his entire second season. He was traded to Detroit in Februrary of 2023 and then allowed to walk following the 2023-24 season. The Pacers signed him, but in his first regular season game in Indiana he tore his Achilles.
Still, being waived stung because it was the first time he was out of the league without an injury reason.
“It didn’t feel good, because I’m a competitor,” Wiseman said. “It didn’t feel good at at all. … In the moment, it was painful. Just being in the car and having to deal with that. I cried so many nights.”
But Wiseman found opportunities to channel that. He said he had spent the last three weeks in Irvine, Calif. working out and getting pickup opportunities to stay in shape.
“He’s been in California, working out,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s been finding pickup games out there. We worked him out early this morning. He looks great. He’s not in NBA game shape by any stretch, no one can be, but for somebody in his situation, he’s got the best head start you can probably have.”
It’s not clear exactly how much opportunity Wiseman will have. Jay Huff and Isaiah Jackson still occupy the top two spots on the Pacers’ depth chart a center and Bradley will be listed as active. He has a splint on his thumb and acknowledges it hurts, but said he believes he’ll be able to play through it. It will make shooting and handling the ball difficult, but he’s mostly on the floor for his defense and rebounding anyway.
Still, Wiseman is looking forward to any opportunity he might get.
“I motivated myself knowing there was going to be another way around,” Wiseman said. “So you just gotta keep working and stay ready. … I’m gonna go out there and play my (expletive) hardest. Leave it all out there on the floor. Whatever they want me to do I’m gonna do it. Still enjoy it at the same time and go out there and just play.”