The Golden State Warriors play the Phoenix Mercury in an NBA game on November 30, 2021. The user acknowledges and agrees that they are consenting to the terms and conditions of the license agreement. The photo was taken by Christian Petersen.
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The Golden State Warriors traded for Andrew Wiggins in February of 2020 and it was met with skepticism. The Minnesota Timberwolves recently signed a five-year, $147 million contract extension with Andrew Wiggins, who had faced a lot of criticism for his up-and-down play early in his career. The Canadian wing's shot selection left a lot to be desired, and he never bought in on the defensive end in Minnesota. Nobody on the planet would argue about whether or not the tools were there.
The Warriors had to make a move with D'Angelo Russell, who had been acquired in a sign-and-trade for Kevin Durant but never was a part of the franchise's long-term plans, and the team was quietly confident that he could turn. The contract that was once viewed as an albatross is now looking very reasonable, as the 26 year old has turned into a two way force in San Francisco.
In this season's 18 games, he is scoring 18.7 points per game on 49.1% shooting from the field and 42.2% shooting from the outside. The career highs for the 6-foot-8 wing are his shooting percentages.
When he was a player with the Wolves, he settled for too many mid-range jumpers, but he began to change his shot profile towards the end of his time there. The best year of Wiggins' career came in the year of 2016-17, when 44.6% of his jumpers came from the mid range. Many people looked down upon that. After that season, he cut down on the long twos and started to get himself behind the three-point line, as he adapted to the way of the league. Only 21.2% of the half-court jumpers come in the mid range, and 67.4% of the jump shots are threes. The way he has changed his game is being rewarded by the way he has drawn the attention of opposing defenses and Draymond Green is using his elite vision to survey the floor. He is burying the basket at an insane high clip as he looks at it.
He has never shot better than 38% from beyond the line, but he is on his way to doing so this season. In spot-up situations, he is scoring 1.199 points per possession, which puts him in the 87th percentile in the NBA. That is the elite territory that Wiggins suddenly finds himself in, which is why he has earned the "excellent" label on his Synergy Sports profile.
It is easy to see why the Warriors are the best team in basketball when you factor in the fact that Wiggins is a good off-ball cutter and dynamic transition player. He has become the perfect complement to Curry and Co., as he doesn't need the ball in his hands to make a mark, and he has been very efficient with his touches. He was a member of the Timberwolves and that wasn't there. This season, with the Warriors, he has recorded career-best marks in offensive box plus/minus and offensive estimated plus/minus. His ball- stopping style made him an on-court negative.
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It is a benefit for Golden State that they have so many isolation reps early in the career of Wiggins, as there will be some rare times in which the team will need to utilize him as a one-on-one scorer. In the playoffs, teams are going to do everything they can to get the ball out of Curry's hands, which could mean that he will end up with the ball as the shot clock is winding down.
Harrison Barnes used to do things like that for the Warriors, but he has a lot more juice now than he did. There is still room for more offensive growth as he is just entering his prime.
He has made huge improvements on the defensive end, where he has become a legitimate plus-level wing defender. Regardless of which advanced stat you prefer to acknowledge, you will see that the 26 year old is finally making use of his athletic ability. The total defensive box plus/ minus, total defensive RAPTOR and total defensive estimated plus/ minus are all career highs.
As you can see in the highlight package above, as early as last year, Wiggins began to become a better team defender in Golden State. He has made it a nightly priority this year. He has always been capable of getting himself in the box score with steals and blocks, but he is now doing so without sacrificing positioning, and there are less instances in which you will catch him napping on that end of the floor. Golden State wouldn't be first in the league in defensive rating without the ability to recover, get his hands on the basketball and block passing lanes, if it weren't for the ability to recover and get his hands on the basketball by Andrew Wiggins.
The Warriors now have the luxury of putting the Canadian on the opposing team's best perimeter scorer, thanks to the on-ball defense of Wiggins. Not many players in the world are reliable when put on an island with some of the league's best players, and that's why Wiggins has been far from perfect. He does his best to contest shots and that is generally good enough if you are confident your team can prevent role players from having above-average nights.
Klay Thompson is set to return from a lengthy absence very soon, so the improvement on defense by Wiggins is important. Thompson is going to need some time to get his legs underneath him. Thompson will be able to focus on the offensive end and get some rest on the defensive end because of the willingness of Wiggins to step up and take on the toughest assignments.
When the Warriors were eliminated from the play-in last year, a lot of people were quick to bash Wiggins, and he was the butt of a lot of jokes on social media. We shouldn't jump on players that are in tough situations early on. In Minnesota, the forward never had any real organizational stability, and he needed a coaching staff that could sit with him and help him clean up some of the mistakes he made. Steve Kerr and the Warriors have given him that.
A team with a real chance of winning an NBA championship now has a crucial piece in Andrew. It's probably time to get used to it for people that thought his $30 million annual salary was terrible a few years ago. When free agency begins after the 2022-23 season, it's possible that Wiggins will get a similar deal. The hard work that this guy has put in to become a complete basketball player appears to be paying off.
