One of the biggest issues facing the Golden State Warriors this season and beyond is what they have in Andrew Wiggins.
In his more than five seasons in Minnesota, he proved that he could score 20 points per game if asked, but he qualified as an inefficient volume shooter who scored badly on the defensive end. That was enough for the Timberwolves to sign a maximum contract with him, which then added the overpaid label to his resume. Was there an obvious talent in the overall choice of hyper-athletics # 1, but had it reached its maximum potential or was there still room to grow?
The Dubs bet by using the precious maximum room contract with him. Could he develop into a more efficient offensive weapon, in a different system where he didn’t need to be the primary focus? Could he improve his defense in a team that was already good at this, under the tutelage of Draymond Green? The exchange that Wiggins acquired was a victory, no matter what for other reasons, but if a change of scenery could unlock another level for his game, it could have a major impact on Golden State’s chances of returning to the championship race.
We are only 20 games away from the new season, but that gave us our first glimpse of Wiggins in a winning team led by a healthy Steph Curry. So far, progress has been promising – his skill set fits well with the Warriors lineup, and as a result, he’s been more effective than ever on both ends of the court.
23.3% usage rate
This is not something that Wiggins did, but how the Warriors are using it. That is, a little less. In Minnesota, he used to be the top scorer, or at least a close second. There is now a distinct leader in Curry, and Wiggins can settle on the secondary team with a few other teammates, taking charge when it makes sense and postponing when he doesn’t look good enough.
That usage rate is two ticks below his career mark, four ticks below last season and more distant than ever on his own team. Another way to see this is his 14.4 shots per game, which is the lowest since his debut year, two below his career rate and four less than what he was putting on Minny last winter before the negotiation. He’s still heavily involved and hasn’t lost an ounce of aggression when he acts, but without having to force him when he’s not there because he has more help around him.
40.6% three-point shot
This opportunity for superior shot selection, plus the necessary nod to Curry’s gravity and the creation of Draymond dramas, helped Wiggins become much more efficient. This is most apparent in the three-point range, where he is exploding his career rate with the T’Wolves (33.2%), as well as his previous personal high (35.6%). Even if you allow some regression over time, he is stripping like never before, in the second largest volume of his career.
Possibly related: More of your 3s are in the corner than ever before, by a significant margin.
He has also been better at both ends, reaching a career record of 50.8% (career: 47.3%). This is where we may be seeing the effect of making fewer shots per game in general, since the ones he cut are the medium to deep jumpers that (obviously) used to carry his worst percentages.
Add it all up and he’s shooting 47.2% overall, which, you guessed it, is the high point of his career and way above his life mark (44.2%). The same story with his true shot percentage, which is 56.4% (career: 52.3%), although he is making less free throws and its in-line manufacturing rate is slightly lower in the small sample.
1.5 blocks per game
And the other end of the floor? There is much more defense than theft and blockages, but in this case the latter catches your eye. This is more than double what he posted in any full year in Minnesota. If you take the 2021 NBA leaders and remove all the pivots and big men, then Wiggins is tied at the top with Kevin Durant.
An advanced metric was optimistic in its general defense during the first 15 games:
The eyeball test was also encouraging. I can’t talk about what he was like with the wolves, but here he is part of an army of long, fast and active defenders who seem to give opponents problems most of the time. And, as noted above, he is personally getting in the way of many kicks, often because he does not give up on moves – including the times when he is defeated by his man, but recovers quickly enough to recover and push the ball back.
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Are we seeing a new and improved Wiggins or just a hot start to the season? Has it gotten better or just fits better in its new environment, and does the answer still matter? Can he and his maximum contract be part of an initial league lineup?
One key to remember is that it doesn’t have to be a Super star. The Warriors already have three of them when Klay Thompson returns, and maybe they’ll have another brew on James Wiseman. He just needs to be a good starting winger, the kind that wage cap rules wouldn’t have allowed Dubs to sign for free will, and anything else is a bonus. A shooter at 40% depth who can hit and shoot, defend at least decently and block shots would do well.