Minnesota Sports Forum

I deserve to be first. I've made a lot of posts about the talented, mercurial, enigmatic, ever-promising youngish wing for the Wolves.

He was the first #1 draft pick for the Wolves, even if acquired in a trade. I remember the hopeful exuberance we felt his rookie season when he ended one game guarding bullying big, Zach Randolph... only to have Flip have him guard Chris Paul at the start of the next game. WOW! That's versatility that would unlock the future of hoops in MN and end the latest re-re-build. There was a lot of potential in such a player. I was legit impressed at the mere idea that the Wolves had a guy who could do both.

In reality... Wiggins struggled vs. both players. The Wolves were winning vs. the Grizzlies when Wiggins lined up vs. Randolph. Randolph only had 7 points in that game... but 5 in a minute when Wiggins guarded him in the 4th quarter as the Grizzlies overtook the Wolves to win the game.

As for Chris Paul... he had 10 points and 8 assists in the 1st quarter vs. Wiggins as the Clippers took a commanding 36 - 18 lead.

"Big deal! He was only a rookie!" True. Very true...

But for a very longtime devoted fan of the Wolves... it remains a telling moment in time for this franchise. Andrew Wiggins was gonna be THE guy. He was trusted to be THE guy. He was put in every position to be THE guy.

In the end, he was just a guy.

Andrew Wiggins is not a bad player. He's had some wonderful moments in Minnesota and some downright dominant performances... and moments. Remember, that stretch when he went AT Gobert multiple times to posterize him? Those will always be remembered fondly by Wolves fans. It was fun.

There's always a place for guys who can get buckets. And Wiggins can get buckets. He averaged 23.6 ppg in 2017. He's averaging 22.4 ppg this season (and has improved as a passer). He's going to play in the league for many more years. He's going to continue to have some great moments. There's even a very good chance he improves as a player.

It's not good enough.

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Andrew Wiggins + Karl-Anthony Towns cannot win as a tandem. We've seen that repeatedly over hundreds of games. The only season they won together was when they dropped to distant #2 and #3 on the alpha chart and often took a backseat to the proceedings.

Is this entirely on them? After all, Flip died. Sam Mitchell, Tom Thibodeau and Ryan Saunders have been a mixed bag... at best. There's been a lot of turnover. A lot of losing culture created by Glen Taylor to shake. A lot of drama. A lot of things.

And a lot of losing. Too much losing.

16 - 66
29 - 53
31 - 51
47 - 35
36 - 46
15 - 34

And things are heading in the wrong direction. Wiggins + Towns haven't won a game together in more than 2 months. TWO MONTHS!

It's not working. 6 seasons (or 5 seasons) is plenty of time to realize that it's not working. It's been time to move on. And now... it's finally happened.*

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Andrew Wiggins will be re-energized in (new team's city location). With new smart, veteran players like (new teammates names)and a new, proven coach like (coach name) and a better franchise culture to learn from... Andrew Wiggins will thrive.

Brace for it. It's going to happen. What happens after that... it's anybody's guess. Maybe he figures it out and plays with more intensity and consistency than he's proven before and his biggest fans will rally and rip the Wolves for letting him go.

Maybe he continues to channel his best Jeff Green impersonation, mixing in enigmatic, uneven performances with glimpses and stretches of legit really good play... and his biggest detractors will continue with chants of fool's good.

But there will be moments of brilliance. Because Andrew Wiggins is not a bad player. And by most accounts, he's a pretty solid guy, too... making it easier to root for him.

The bottom line? Whatever promise Wiggins has in him... it's not going to be reached in Minnesota. There's too much history... too much of everything. Andrew Wiggins needs to move on to fully realize his basketball potential.

And sadly, the Timberwolves need him to move on to have any legit chance of finding their own.

Ok. Who will take his contract?

papalrep wrote:Ok. Who will take his contract?

I think the Golden State option has legs. They won with a young Harrison Barnes. I think it's a decent enough bet for the Warriors to believe that a change of scenery and culture is enough to make Wiggins a superior option to Barnes... especially when it comes with some higher end draft picks. The game would be simpler for him there. Easier. And that might make him significantly better.

I thought Charlotte was an option. It's a fledgling franchise heading nowhere. Maybe they get onboard.

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But I dunno for certain. But what I do know is that we probably don't need a decade of unrealized potential to finally declare that Andrew Wiggins needs to be traded for the good of him and the franchise.

Even at a sunk cost. Rip the band-aid off... cry about it for awhile... and regroup.

I'll be ticked. You'll be ticked. Others will be ticked. But what's the alternative? Keeping Wiggins + Towns together and being slightly better than an atrocity... Meh.

There's no way out of this that is optimal for the Wolves.

First of all you are right Wiggins and Towns isn't good enough. The reality is we knew that months ago. Like you said Wiggins isn't a bad player but yeah he isn't the guy.

Like it's been said where is he going? What is his value? Nuetral positive slightly negative massively negative? If the Wolves like some people still suggest have to pay to get rid of him he is still gonna be here a while I think. Abe I actually agree with you that I think GS may actually have interest in Wiggins especially if they got assets in addition to him while dealing Russell. I don't think the Wolves are going to sweeten it enough though to make that happen because at the end of the day I think the Wolves still value Wiggins to some extent.

The good franchises get more out of players than other teams at a rate of above 50%. The Wolves this season didn't get more out of any of the guys they brought in or Teague. Jake Layman is the exception but he got hurt. That's not a good look. On the other hand I do think they likely raised the value of the most negative assets they had on the ledger in Dieng and Wiggins. Dieng might actually be looked at around the league as a legit 3 point shooter. Some team might actually want him in a arrange the deck chairs deal in the future. Wiggins even though people are down on him is still having a pretty nice season and let's see if he gets back into playing well the next few weeks. If he does he might moving closer to nuetral value which means the Wolves might get something for him if they actually dealt him. I'd guess the Wolves are less desperate to move him than it seems has been reported. Didn't that happen last summer supposedly the Wolves were shopping him all over then other folks said later not so much?

Ultimately I agree with the sentiment of your post. Wiggins isn't the hope. He is a guy to hope for some sort of mitigation either on the roster or in a move. Like you said he isn't a bad player so I'm not dying to get him off the roster but I agree it makes sense to ultimately move him at some point. When? It's a good question. I'm not really going to worry about it. I've spilled enough electronic interested data on the guy already. I'm personally more interested in guys that probably won't matter as much but are more interesting to me like McLaughlin or Reid. I'm doing whatever I enjoy because if I don't enjoy this anymore...what's the point? Lots of other things I would like to do I have ADHD I like just about everything. Lol

Yeah, hard to believe Wiggins will be on this team by the start of next season. I'm not sure anything gets done by the trade deadline, but surely by the end of summer. To your point, this season has to be the final nail in the KAT-Wiggins duo. It ain't working and I'm sure Wiggins would be happy with a fresh start elsewhere. Rosas certainly hasn't gone out of his way to mention Wiggins when talking about the future. It's all about KAT (for better or for worse - he's got his own issues we've discussed at length).

Dieng was supposed to be gone too.

He was never as good as we wanted him to be, but never as bad as he was made out to be here. Ill cheer for him to get a ring. Draymond and him are good compliments to steph and klay.

thedoper wrote:He was never as good as we wanted him to be, but never as bad as he was made out to be here. Ill cheer for him to get a ring. Draymond and him are good compliments to steph and klay.

He could thrive in the right environment.

But as we know... this isn't the right environment. It was never going to happen here... part Wiggins' fault, part everything else.

Wiggins has never been in a good organization. I will be happy to see him in the Bay area and be surrounded with great coaching. I predict Wiggins will have a better career than DLO. Warriors just took advantage of Wolves.

Steve Kerr is a top 3 point shooter in history. Wiggins might listen to him about his scud missile 3. Imagine Wiggins being an All Star next year? It wouldn't be impossible if he can start shooting. I think for them Wiggins makes more sense then DLO. I wish we didn't give up any picks, but at least they are protected obviously.

And duh they have Klay Thompson and Curry. Both shoot lights out.