Warriors: Andrew Wiggins’ free throw shooting needs improvement

It was a career year for Andrew Wiggins.

The Warriors forward did just about everything asked of him and exceeded expectations. Wiggins was arguably the Dubs’ second-best player during their NBA Finals run. He was a huge reason the Warriors were able to handle the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The Golden State Warriors saw a breakout season from Andrew Wiggins last year. His free throw shooting was a low point though.

Wiggins’ offense has been a plus all season with his three-point shooting at career-high levels. He did have a weakness though, his free throw shooting. He shot just 63.4% from the free-throw line this past season.

Wiggins is a career 72.3% free throw shooter.

While his percentages did dip to a level most would view as unacceptable, he did shoot a career-low 3.2 attempts per game. Playing alongside multiple stars helped him not force the tempo offensively.

Wiggins doesn’t have much to improve on next season.

He played well, and his free-throw shooting should improve to the mean. The more important part of Wiggins’ game, his efficiency from the two-point range and from deep, is more crucial to the Warriors’ success. That’s where he thrived this past season.

The former No. 1 overall pick did continue to shoot under 65% from the free-throw line in the playoffs.

Again, he shot just 3 free-throw attempts per game, so missing one of those only means he missed 23 attempts. For a season-long showing, Wiggins needs to be better, and moving forward, there should be hope in his career averages that he does improve.

The first-time All-Star forward will be up for a contract extension and could see another large contract after this past season. While it’s not overly important right now, Wiggins’ ability to get to and connect from the stripe will soon be crucial for Golden State.

Expect improvement next season as Wiggins continues to shine in the Bay Area.