Muscatine native Joe Wieskamp’s career is not over yet, despite being a free agent for a while. The Toronto Raptors might have something to do with the 23-year-old. They don’t have a proper role envisioned for him, but they’re studying him as a possible quality shooter.
They offered him a 10-day contract on January 7th, and today he has signed a second 10-day contract with the team.
“Going into the season, this is what I had hoped for is getting the call-up back to the NBA, and so I’m just thankful Toronto has given me an opportunity, and I hope to make the most of it,” Joe Wieskamp said after his first contract with the team.
The NBA is filled with a lot of controversies and surprises. But at least it had been speculated that the team would give him some more time.
He already turned heads at practice, and an additional 10-day contract would allow him to convince the management further. Born and raised in Iowa, Wieskamp is one of the former Hawkeyes currently playing in the NBA.
He did make good shots on training, was aggressive, and he tried to play the kind of defense that the Toronto Raptors have been famed for over the years.
Joe Three-skamp 🎯@JWieskamp21 | #PorVida pic.twitter.com/PqQBnwL8GD
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) March 19, 2022
Wieskamp Is a Good Shooter
Even though his not-so-decent stats can’t say it, Joe Wieskamp is a good shooter. And with proper guidance and coaching, he could develop to be one of the NBA’s deadliest hitmen.
That’s a fact that even Raptors’ coach Nick Nurse can’t deny.
“He had one practice today. He’s healthy. He’s in shape. He looked pretty good out there,” said Nick Nurse. “He’s mostly a shooter, I would say. He’s a guard or a wing known for being able to space the floor and make threes.”
Wieskamp has a record of converting threes at a 37% clip for his career in the G-league, playing both with the Austin Spurs and the Wisconsin Herd.
Wieskamp averaged 41.2% from behind the arc over three seasons at Iowa college. He was named Iowa’s 2018 Mr. Basketball.
The Raptors’ roster is full of young, versatile, and long wings, and the last ten days were honestly a crash course for Wieskamp. And the additional ten days, which he willingly accepted, will be equally backbreaking.
But putting into consideration Toronto’s history with 10-day contracts over the past few years, they’re going to cycle through several players who could be on the watch for Summer League or training camp invites.
.@Raptors 10-day signee Joe Wieskamp was 4-for-6 from behind the arc last night 💧
Immediate impact❗️ pic.twitter.com/CNk7gYh2VO
— Raptors 905 (@Raptors905) January 10, 2023
Times With the Spurs And the Herd
Wieskamp played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes until he was drafted 41st overall in the 2021 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs. He made his NBA debut in November of that same year scoring 3 points off the bench in a 136-117 win over the Sacramento Kings.
He also spent some of his time in the G-league. He played in 15 games for the Austin Spurs and averaged 17.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists last season. For the San Antonio Spurs, he appeared in 29 games and averaged 2.1 points per game.
Wieskamp posted his best performance as a Spur on Jan. 4 last year during a 129 – 104 loss to the Toronto Raptors. He dropped a career-high 13 points in only 12 minutes while going 3 to 5 from deep.
After being waived by the Spurs in October last year to allow room for a maximum of 15 players on the team, he was selected 2nd overall in the 2022 NBA G-league draft by the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks affiliate.
He then played for the team for the better part of the 2022-2023 season until the Raptors grabbed him. During his stay with the team, he appeared in 13 games and dropped an average of 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 29.4 minutes.
Josh and Joe arrived in the Alamo City yesterday and got their new threads 🤙⚪️⚫️#SpursDraft2021 pic.twitter.com/ebtXIuWmLV
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) July 31, 2021
First game With the Raptors 905
After signing the first 10-day contract, Wieskamp has been spotted on several accounts training with the team. He has also been on the bench during most of their games. Last Monday, he made a trek to Mississauga for some extended G-league burn.
And as expected of a player on a “show us that you have the capacity” contract, he didn’t disappoint. Wieskamp logged 16 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and one block across 37 minutes during the 905’s 122-119 win over Capital City.
The Raptors 905 are a team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. In contrast, Capital City is affiliated with the Washington Wizards of the NBA.
Unlike any of the players on the current Raptors’ roster, Wieskamp can hit, catch, and shoot threes on the move. Plus, the ability to drive when being trailed on screens makes him an interesting version of prior Raptor players like Matt Thomas.
He has been given another ten days. Let’s wait and see what direction this takes.
Welcome, @JWieskamp21 pic.twitter.com/4DFmrtuoKM
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 7, 2023
Credits on Featured Image: Marc-Grégor Campredon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
