Warriors forward continues to make mockery of ESPN tier list

Even despite Saturday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Golden State Warriors have been one of the best teams in the league through the first month of the season.

They have the qual third-best record in the league, the equal best record in the Western Conference, are fourth in defense, seventh in offense and fifth in net rating. They've beaten the reigning champion Celtics in Boston and the Thunder in Oklahoma City among other notable victories on their way to a 12-4 record.

And yet the jury is still out for some analysts on whether the Warriors are legitimate title threats. For those looking to dismiss Golden State as a genuine contender, they'll try and identify the lack of star power which could become problematic in the playoffs.

In a piece for ESPN earlier in the week, Tim Bontemps ranked all 30 teams by the top trio on each roster. The Warriors ranked 12th, put in a group with the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns classified as 'legend-led contenders'.

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins is making a mockery of ESPN's tier list

The most notable aspect of the ranking wasn't where Golden State were placed, but more so who Bontemps had identified as the team's 'big three'. Clearly Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are two parts of the trio, yet Brandin Podziemski's place as the third certainly raised eyebrows.

Podziemski has started in three games while Curry was out with injury, but has otherwise been in a bench role where his shooting efficiency has been disappointing. More shocking is the fact that Andrew Wiggins has evidently been the Warriors' second or third-best player, with the 2022 All-Star making a greater mockery of ESPN's rankings since it was released.

Wiggins is in the midst of an incredibly hot stretch of form -- his best since the All-Star season. Saturday's game against the Spurs saw the Canadian's fourth-straight game of 20 or more points, the last two of which have come following the release of Bontemps' rankings.

The 29-year-old is now averaging 17.4 points and 4.4 rebounds on efficient 48/41/77 shooting splits, while Podziemski in contrast is averaging 7.2 points on 37/19/63 splits. Wiggins had been in trade speculation for a large part of the last 12-18 months, but has now reaffirmed his status as a core member of the Warriors and clearly a top three player on the team alongside Curry and Green.