Minnesota Sports Forum

Lip, another factor in Wiggins' unspectacular college stats is that he played on a very good team with several highly regarded prospects. For that reason, it's unfair to compare his freshman stats to Durant's or Beasley's, since both of them were expected to carry the water for their teams. Freshmen on potential championship teams often defer to their teammates, and their stats suffer as a result.

That is why I still think Michael Jordan is the best freshman comparative for Wiggins. Both players are elite athletes who joined elite programs expected to challenge for a championship every year. And I would argue that Wiggins' stats are better than Jordan's:

Wiggins 17.1 :PPG 5.9 RPG 1.5 APG 1.2 SPG 1.0 BPG

Jordan 13.5 PPG 4.4 RPG 1.8 APG 1.2 SPG .2 BPG

Very close in most areas, although Wiggins has a decided edge in scoring. Jordan shot at a better percentage (53% to 45%), but Wiggins was the better free thrower (77% to 72%) and got to the line more than twice as frequently.

Please note that I am not suggesting that Wiggins is Michael Jordan...nobody is. I'm merely saying that Jordan is the best player for comparative freshman stats, and that Wiggins compares very favorably.

Harrison Barnes is the best stats comparison for Andrew Wiggins, not Michael Jordan.

Camden wrote:Harrison Barnes is the best stats comparison for Andrew Wiggins, not Michael Jordan.

I agree that Barnes is another good comp for Wiggins' college stats (nad better than Durant and Beasley), but I'm not sure why Jordan isn't a good comp. Jordan, Barnes and Wiggins were all superb athletes who joined programs where they didn't have to be "the man" their freshman years. And all performed well, but Wiggins's stats were convincingly the best of the trio.

longstrangetrip wrote:It's odd to me that only three of us have Waiters coming here, especially since his name has appeared in rumors off and on over the past month. I didn't include him, because if the Wolves deal Love only, his salary isn't needed. But if Flip is able to unload an undesirable player or contract in the deal, Waiter may be included. I suspect that is why we don't have a deal yet...that Flip is playing hardball trying to include JJ and Waiters in the deal.

Right and there was even a rumor that had CLE insisting on him being part of the deal. The main reason I didn't put him in is b/c Flip himself stated Martin had not even been talked about. If Martin stays then there's no place for Waiters b/c of Wiggins/Lavine. I'm in favor of either situation, keeping Martin or trading him & getting Waiters. Part of me doesn't want to see Martin with the Cavs b/c he's exactly the type they need at SG which makes them even better.

I think we get too carried away on comps, size and defined positions. We'll be facing different lineups each game. If Flip can get Lavine/Bennett/Dieng/Wiggins to play a couple different positions, I think that's great. It just makes us more dangerous.

Okay, I think we have our consensus as a board. Minnesota Sports believes we are getting:

- Wiggins (unanimous)

- Bennett

- Miami's 2015 #1

And a 50/50 chance of Thad Young being included in the deal as well. Lets see how accurate we are in about 3 weeks.

longstrangetrip wrote:Lip, another factor in Wiggins' unspectacular college stats is that he played on a very good team with several highly regarded prospects. For that reason, it's unfair to compare his freshman stats to Durant's or Beasley's, since both of them were expected to carry the water for their teams. Freshmen on potential championship teams often defer to their teammates, and their stats suffer as a result.

That is why I still think Michael Jordan is the best freshman comparative for Wiggins. Both players are elite athletes who joined elite programs expected to challenge for a championship every year. And I would argue that Wiggins' stats are better than Jordan's:

Wiggins 17.1 :PPG 5.9 RPG 1.5 APG 1.2 SPG 1.0 BPG

Jordan 13.5 PPG 4.4 RPG 1.8 APG 1.2 SPG .2 BPG

Very close in most areas, although Wiggins has a decided edge in scoring. Jordan shot at a better percentage (53% to 45%), but Wiggins was the better free thrower (77% to 72%) and got to the line more than twice as frequently.

Please note that I am not suggesting that Wiggins is Michael Jordan...nobody is. I'm merely saying that Jordan is the best player for comparative freshman stats, and that Wiggins compares very favorably.

Good post, Long. You make some good points. And I know you're not suggesting Wiggins is Jordan any more than I was suggesting Bennett is another Barkley. :)

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:Harrison Barnes is the best stats comparison for Andrew Wiggins, not Michael Jordan.

I agree that Barnes is another good comp for Wiggins' college stats (nad better than Durant and Beasley), but I'm not sure why Jordan isn't a good comp. Jordan, Barnes and Wiggins were all superb athletes who joined programs where they didn't have to be "the man" their freshman years. And all performed well, but Wiggins's stats were convincingly the best of the trio.

Don't underestimate the huge gap in FG % between Jordan and Wiggins. That is a key metric. It tells us that Michael was far better at scoring on dribble penetration. That's what you should expect from an uber athletic wing at the college level. I'm troubled that Wiggins, in spite of his length and great athleticism, was unable to shoot significantly better than 45%. It seems to reflect the criticism related to his lack of aggressiveness and ballhandling. But hard work and good coaching, along with simple maturation of a 19 year old can do wonders. So I still see a potential star in Wiggins. I just see a longer more uncertain path to that end for Wiggins than most who have become star wings in the NBA.

Bennett is Horace Grant
LaVine is Jordan
Wiggins is Pippen

And I guess that makes Rubio, BJ Armstrong and Dieng will be Will Perdue.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Bennett is Horace Grant
LaVine is Jordan
Wiggins is Pippen

And I guess that makes Rubio, BJ Armstrong and Dieng will be Will Perdue.

Lol. :). Thanks for the levity, phenom.