Minnesota Sports Forum

The last 15 games has Wiggins sitting at career highs in almost every statistical category for the year. Despite some real low moments this season he is really starting to come into form including 3 ASG in the last 15. As I have said from the beginning I am motivated by progress. At this point it is hard not to acknowledge there has been progress. But is it enough? I really can't say yet but he continues to impress me and along with Bazz is one of my favorite players to watch on the squad. If he keeps up his tear as of late hard for me to say he is not the MVP of the season so far.

Based on his trajectory and improvements this year I think 25/6/5 is attainable next year based on what I have seen. Hard to not see him as an elite player if he reaches those numbers with efficient scoring. So I am just going to go out there and predict it now. I know I get labeled as one of the resident fanboys for Wiggins so this can all be taken with a grain of salt but we are close!!! Stay positive people, go Wolves!!

Let's extend this run. Maintain. Improve on it.

But it's a great start. The 6 reb/5ast thing might have to wait a bit longer though. He's still at 4/2.5 in the recent stretch so to double assists in a year is a tall order.

I do think 25 ppg (solid efficiency) and more reb/ast and better defense should all be expected as the path toward All Star status next season if he's as good as many people expect him to be. It's the next step in his development.

He is making scoring look easy. Like he just showed up at the rec center and doing his thing. That dunk on Jokic was pretty sweet. If Wiggins can find that balance between his chillness and aggression just offensively he will be an absolute monster. His defense has been better too. It's the best stretch I have seen him in his entire career and he has so much he can do to get better. It's kinda scary.

He's been really fun to watch. He's not going to rebound better until he can add some muscle, But I'm most excited about the way he's picking it up on defense. No doubt in my mind he can still become and elite defender. It may take some time, but time is still well on his side.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:He's been really fun to watch. He's not going to rebound better until he can add some muscle, But I'm most excited about the way he's picking it up on defense. No doubt in my mind he can still become and elite defender. It may take some time, but time is still well on his side.

Maybe. But I'm not expecting him becoming elite on D. Why would he? He'd be going against human nature/NBA history in some ways.

If he's going to continue to improve offensively, he's going to be heralded more and more on that end. Defense is a different animal... and for many guys, they tend to slough off on that end when they're doing a ton on the other end. Basically, I don't see him having the "need/incentive" to put in the effort defensively.

For example, has he ever been benched for poor defense? So what's the risk in bad defense in 2017? 2019? 2021? He'll have to find that carrot himself and I don't think that's easy for a young guy in his situation.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:He's been really fun to watch. He's not going to rebound better until he can add some muscle, But I'm most excited about the way he's picking it up on defense. No doubt in my mind he can still become and elite defender. It may take some time, but time is still well on his side.

Maybe. But I'm not expecting him becoming elite on D. Why would he? He'd be going against human nature/NBA history in some ways.

If he's going to continue to improve offensively, he's going to be heralded more and more on that end. Defense is a different animal... and for many guys, they tend to slough off on that end when they're doing a ton on the other end. Basically, I don't see him having the "need/incentive" to put in the effort defensively.

For example, has he ever been benched for poor defense? So what's the risk in bad defense in 2017? 2019? 2021? He'll have to find that carrot himself and I don't think that's easy for a young guy in his situation.

I disagree. You can see his defensive game evolving. For him I think it's a lot about confidence and eliminating the fear of making a mistake. He's starting to realize how his athleticism can be effective on both ends of the court. 22 year olds are raw by nature, but I think in Andrew's case he's even younger than his age. There's just so much potential for continued improvement. I see him getting better every year for the next 5 years.

Wiggins athleticism as a younger prospect made you think he could be, at minimum, the next "do shit" wing that used his athleticism to get steals, blocks, defend like hell, rebound, etc., with the scoring being something he'd have to grow into. Think a young Shawn Marion, Scottie Pippen, Gerald Wallace....those types of guys.

Instead, he's the opposite. You rarely see him use his athleticism to make "wow!" defensive plays or smother a guy that he doggedly defends. On the other hand, his growth and advancement as a pure scorer is well ahead of expectations. His efficiency is up and down, but lately it's been up. Let's hope it sticks.

As for the other stuff, I think the assists will eventually come as defenses collapse and double him more, but he really still needs a lot of work at finding people off the dribble. Kick-outs are rudimentary passes. Let's see a pocket pass or a quick interior feed to a big that slips the screen. That will be progress.

I just don't see the rebounding ever being more than adequate at best for a small forward. The defense I think he can be solid at, but tough to expect too much from a guy we're expecting 25 PPG from at 38 MPG. He needs a wing next to him that can do a bunch of the dirty work defensively - or at least a bench wing that can do that if he starts out on opposing teams' best wings.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:He's been really fun to watch. He's not going to rebound better until he can add some muscle, But I'm most excited about the way he's picking it up on defense. No doubt in my mind he can still become and elite defender. It may take some time, but time is still well on his side.

Maybe. But I'm not expecting him becoming elite on D. Why would he? He'd be going against human nature/NBA history in some ways.

If he's going to continue to improve offensively, he's going to be heralded more and more on that end. Defense is a different animal... and for many guys, they tend to slough off on that end when they're doing a ton on the other end. Basically, I don't see him having the "need/incentive" to put in the effort defensively.

For example, has he ever been benched for poor defense? So what's the risk in bad defense in 2017? 2019? 2021? He'll have to find that carrot himself and I don't think that's easy for a young guy in his situation.

I think the carrot is winning at the highest level. I think he's a winner, love his attitude. The risk of bad D is getting more individual accolades and not winning. But I think he wants to win and will put both sides of the ball together.