Minnesota Sports Forum

From what I remember... Wiggins may have been a can't miss prospect before Kansas... but he had a slightly uneven season in college.

He was still the #1 draft prospect hitting the NBA that year and was the expected #1 pick. So it made sense to trade for him for the huge upside. But there were definitely more flags after that year of college than prior to it.

From motor to shooting to creating, etc.

If you just look at Wig's modest stats at Kansas, you might be able to make a case that Wig has actually overachieved at the pro level. A 34% 3-point shooter from the shorter college distance doesn't project to be even an average shooter in the pros, so perhaps we should be thrilled with his 35.8% this season. And his motor concerns were well documented. I think the biggest disappointment has been that his extraordinary athleticism has not translated to the pro level...the jaw dropping dunks we saw in high school and college have been few and far between with the Wolves.

Wiggins was considered the guy teams were supppsed to tank for starting before the college season even started. There was talk about some issues with Wiggins and he wasn't exactly blowing up at Kansas. After the season there were smart basketball people saying Parker was gonna be better. It was because he was so competitive. So far even if you say he was injured many smart basketball people say he just doesn't try on defense. If Embiid was healthy...I think there was an excellent chance he gets picked #1 and a chance the Cavs never trade him. Remember he was getting hype and a Hakeem type guy plus he could shoot 3's!!!!

Back to Wiggins. He isn't a busy he just isn't good enough. Marvin Williams wasn't worth a #2 pick but he was a worthwhile player for the Hawks and helped them become a decent team after a whole boatload of daily draft picks many whonwwre out of the league after 5 years. The Problem with Wiggins is he is getting paid a ton of money isn't living up to the high expectations of everything and EARNED a rep of a guy that doesn't play hard plus LOOKS like a guy that doesn't care out there. He is probably still worth like 15 million a year but paying that extra 10+ million is an obvious downer. I think he can still become someone worth more like 20 million a year. I'm in the minority. Everyone can agree the guy just hasn't been good enough. It sucks.

WHO CARES WHAT HIS YEAR AT KANSAS SAID? The point is we needed him to be a star, and by not becoming one it torpedoed our rebuild and set us back. I mean, why can't we focus on that?

CoolBreeze44 wrote:WHO CARES WHAT HIS YEAR AT KANSAS SAID? The point is we needed him to be a star, and by not becoming one it torpedoed our rebuild and set us back. I mean, why can't we focus on that?

You nailed it, Cool. It is what it is. Flip made the right move getting Wiggins in the Love deal. Unfortunately, Wiggins hasn't lived up to his potential and it's clear by now he never will. I don't know what we do with Wiggins because I don't see the Wolves getting worthwhile return for him in a trade. At least he's playing well defensively on a fairly consistent basis and he's improved his rebounding.

But the bottom line, as you suggested, is focusing on building around KAT with the understanding that Wiggins won't be anything close to the star many expected him to be. We have some nice pieces in Okogie, Tyus, Covington and Saric to go with KAT. But we still need another star to go with KAT. Maybe Okogie will turn out to be that guy, but he still has a long way to go. I could see Okogie and Saric developing into allstar caliber players. Otherwise, maybe we can hit the jackpot in the upcoming draft.

Is anybody really debating that Wiggins was the right choice at #1 that year? Why is anybody upset about that?

For me the point is that the guy was not a "sure thing" 3 years ago when others here kept telling us to be patient that there's no way he wasn't going to be a superstar... and more importantly, when Glen Taylor/Tom Thibodeau mortgaged the next half-decade by doubling down on his potential...

It's not ok to debate whether Wiggins was #1 worthy... it is ok to rip him every single day for playing at an average level (at best) 5 years into his career without any sort of meaningful and tangible improvement. And... it's ok to rip the two people responsible for falling for his promise "to play hard."

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Is anybody really debating that Wiggins was the right choice at #1 that year? Why is anybody upset about that?

For me the point is that the guy was not a "sure thing" 3 years ago when others here kept telling us to be patient that there's no way he wasn't going to be a superstar... and more importantly, when Glen Taylor/Tom Thibodeau mortgaged the next half-decade by doubling down on his potential...

It's not ok to debate whether Wiggins was #1 worthy... it is ok to rip him every single day for playing at an average level (at best) 5 years into his career without any sort of meaningful and tangible improvement. And... it's ok to rip the two people responsible for falling for his promise "to play hard."

I can't argue with any of your points, Abe. I've been among those who have ripped Wiggins for over a year now. And it's more than fair to rip Thibodeau and Taylor for giving him a max contract. The question in my mind now is what should this franchise do going forward? Is Wiggins tradeable? Are there any possible realistic deals for Wiggins that would be worthwhile? Wiggins aside, what does this team need to do to take the next step forward? Obviously, we need to build around KAT. Do we have what we need on the roster to build a contender around him? If not, how are we going to get that player?

lipoli390 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Is anybody really debating that Wiggins was the right choice at #1 that year? Why is anybody upset about that?

For me the point is that the guy was not a "sure thing" 3 years ago when others here kept telling us to be patient that there's no way he wasn't going to be a superstar... and more importantly, when Glen Taylor/Tom Thibodeau mortgaged the next half-decade by doubling down on his potential...

It's not ok to debate whether Wiggins was #1 worthy... it is ok to rip him every single day for playing at an average level (at best) 5 years into his career without any sort of meaningful and tangible improvement. And... it's ok to rip the two people responsible for falling for his promise "to play hard."

I can't argue with any of your points, Abe. I've been among those who have ripped Wiggins for over a year now. And it's more than fair to rip Thibodeau and Taylor for giving him a max contract. The question in my mind now is what should this franchise do going forward? Is Wiggins tradeable? Are there any possible realistic deals for Wiggins that would be worthwhile? Wiggins aside, what does this team need to do to take the next step forward? Obviously, we need to build around KAT. Do we have what we need on the roster to build a contender around him? If not, how are we going to get that player?

1. Is Wiggins tradeable? What kind of deals are out there?

I don't know. I think we should make every effort to move him this offseason, but I think it will be a very narrow set of teams that we could work something out with. And what exactly do we have to take back?

2. What does team need to do to take the next step forward?

Keep getting better on defense. It's the easier of the two sides to get better on and doesn't require a wholesale change in personnel. The other thing we need to do is get away from a PG-centric offense and look to get more player and ball movement. They need some fresh faces to modernize the approach this team takes, i.e., fire Thibs and Layden.

3. Do we have what we need on the roster to build a contender around KAT?

We're not even close unfortunately. That will take us getting super lucky with at least a couple players unexpectedly blowing up (like Okogie or a future pick). And KAT himself needs to keep getting better. He's not a franchise player yet, but I do agree he's our best hope.

A potential trade I have thought about is Wiggins for Kyle Lowry over the summer. Lowry is 32 and will have 1 year left on his deal. I am assuming that Kawhi leaves (for warmer pastures) and Toronto decides to try and rebuild. We could throw in a high lotto protected 1st. This is also assuming that Teague opts out.

Many assumptions but could be a nice fit.

Wiggins gets a fresh start back home. Could be a draw for fans while they rebuild.

Hey guess what we have over 40 games of the season to figure out what this team needs and doesn't need. Mate at the end of it we absolutely know Wiggins needs to get dumped. Maybe we find out Towns is actually the MVP talent we thought he was gonna be. Maybe Tyus is the PG we need to pay. Every season is an evaluation we still have over half a season to go.