Golden State Warriors: The Quiet Improvement of Andrew Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins is simply having the best season of his career so far. In the Golden State Warriors’ night’s victory over the Orlando Magic, Wiggins hit a career-high eight 3-pointers on route to a very handy 28 points in 29 minutes.

His 8 for 10 shooting performance from deep bumped up his season 3-point percentage to 41.6 percent – also a career-high mark for the small forward.

Wiggins said post-game: “In my career, this is the most open looks I’ve gotten.” I guess playing alongside Stephen Curry will naturally do that. No player in the NBA commands the type of attention Curry does on a nightly basis. Defenses sell out to double Curry and as a result, his teammates receive a variety of open looks served to them on a platter. So far this season, Wiggins has been feasting.

The NBA world had all but given up on Andrew Wiggins prior to his change of scenery with the Golden State Warriors

Prior to being traded to the Golden State Warriors, Wiggins’ stock was at an all-time low. The Canadian was quietly sleepwalking through the motions, trapped in a Groundhog Day of basketball purgatory – also known as his fifth season of playing in Minnesota.

Wiggins’ contract was considered amongst the worst in the NBA. A contract that was said to be untradeable. Five years, $148 million for an ‘average’ player struggling to lead a middling franchise. NBA fans had all but given up on Wiggins.

The thing is though, Wiggins has always actually been better than his underwhelming reputation. The problem was that his career to that point had been underwhelming in comparison to the lofty expectations placed on him as a teenager.

In high school, Wiggins was ranked the number one player in the country – then he excelled in college and was selected with the number one pick in the 2014 Draft. Wiggins impressed in his debut season, taking home the Rookie of the Year award. He was seen as a player destined for great things – a future star of the league.

However, when he failed to show drastic improvement through the years, he was labeled a draft bust by some fans. Which was simply never true. By any definition, Wiggins has always been a good NBA player. He averaged 22.4 points per game during his final season for the Timberwolves – he just wasn’t the player many had hoped he would be.

Wiggins was eventually traded to the Warriors in February 2020, and he hasn’t looked back since. Fast forward to the present day and we even have Warriors’ superstar Klay Thompson singing his praises and calling him an All-Star. After Monday’s performance against the Magic, Thompson jumped on Instagram and described Wiggins as “one of the best” two-way players in the game.

Wiggins has found a home in Golden State

Andrew Wiggins: “I’m in a groove. I love my teammates. I love winning, and right now we’re winning.”

Andrew Wiggins is one of the better players on a team contending for a Championship. That’s a sentence that feels remarkably good to type out.

Unfair expectations have followed Wiggins throughout his career. I remember not too long ago people wanted Wiggins traded for Ben Simmons – and by people, I mean myself prior to the start of this season. Wiggins had never shot better than 38 percent from three until last year – his first full season as a Warrior. Yet, I viewed this as an anomaly – a statistically outlier for a player whose career average from deep is 34 percent.

I’ve happily been proven wrong. Wiggins has become a vital cog in the Warriors system and is perhaps untouchable in any trade scenario not involving a superstar. This season he’s averaging 19 points a game on 49% shooting from the field, and the Warriors have the best record in basketball.

In May of this year, coach Steve Kerr had this to say about Wiggins: “I think Andrew enjoys being under the radar. I don’t think he really wants the limelight. He loves basketball, loves being a part of our team. Steph and Draymond are our leaders – so, it’s a really good situation for him.”

Kerr hits the nail on the head with this quote. With the Warriors, Wiggins isn’t expected to lead or be someone he’s not. His simplified role in this team has allowed him to discover his outside shot and play the best basketball of his career. He’s playing high-level defense while averaging 19 a game on career-high efficiency.

In his eighteen months in the Bay, the quiet Canadian has quietly improved. He’s smiling more often than we’re used to seeing. On the court, he’s pulling out his finest Klay Thompson impressions, as we saw against the Magic on Monday – and most importantly he’s finally found a home.