Knicks Make James Wiseman Announcement Before Opening Night

The New York Knicks have a lot of their roster back from their NBA championship team.

The center position is going to look different, though, behind Karl-Anthony Towns, because Mitchell Robinson has departed for the Boston Celtics.

The Knicks brought in a couple of veterans to potentially fill out the depth chart, and two made the team.

The first, and most likely to see sizable minutes, is Andre Drummond. The rebounding machine should be KAT's direct backup.

The other veteran who made the roster? James Wiseman.

Wiseman making the team was first made clear when the Knicks waived Bruce Brown over the weekend.

The final roster spot appeared to be down to Brown and Wiseman, and so when Brown was cut, that meant Wiseman would be on the Knicks.

Wiseman has also had his jersey number made official — he'll wear 35:

Shoutout to former Syracuse star Demetris Nichols as the last Knicks player to wear 35 before Wiseman.

Really, though, it's just remarkable that Wiseman continues to stick around the NBA. And as long as he's hanging around, there will still be people who believe in him.

Wiseman put up 18 points and 10 rebounds to end the preseason. If the Knicks needed to see a statement from him to make the roster, that certainly applied.

The intrigue surrounding Wiseman might've been enough all by itself, though, to keep him around at least for a little while.

Wiseman was the No. 1 high school recruit in the country in the Class of 2019, and even after a bumpy season eligibility-wise at Memphis, he was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors .

The big lefty did get a ring with Golden State, but he never found a way to thrive there. He has since played for the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers — although injuries limited him to just five games in two seasons with the Pacers.

Now, Wiseman has found his way to the Big Apple, where it's not clear if he'll see much playing time.

Amazingly, Wiseman is still just 25 years old. You'll find Knicks fans who have talked themselves into believing that Wiseman can be a real contributor to this roster.

And hey, maybe he can — a guy who once had the hype of Wiseman will always feel like a player you can dream on, even if he's come up short so far in his NBA career.