Andrew Wiggins Blossoming Into A Star

Andrew Wiggins is wrapping up a stellar sophomore season and seems well on his way to being a star.

Being tabbed as a player destined for stardom can carry a tremendous amount of pressure. The NBA is littered with players tabbed as “the next ___;” O.J. Mayo was called the next LeBron James, Harrison Barnes as the next Kobe Bryant, the list goes on and on.

If you were to view Wiggins through the lens of being the next LeBron James, you likely would be underwhelmed, given James’ near unprecedented, meteoric rise to stardom at such a young age. But Wiggins isn’t going to be the next LeBron, he’s the first Andrew Wiggins.

One theme that has been consistent throughout the career of Andrew Wiggins has been steady growth. His rookie season got off to a slow start, but by the end of the year he was the clear choice for Rookie of the Year.

Early this season there was concern among some people, myself included, that his level of play was remaining stagnant. In December he averaged 19.4 points and 1.6 assists a game on 43.8 percent shooting and 19.4 percent from three–numbers indicative of a volume shooter that isn’t getting others involved.

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The bigger concern was that his increased scoring totals seemed to have had an impact on his defensive consistency, one of his strengths as a rookie. While his defensive impact still isn’t quite there, it’s normal for someone his age to not be able to play consistently good defense while shouldering a large offensive load.

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Wiggins’ Defensive Real Plus Minus ranks him 88th out of qualified shooting guards in the NBA and 433rd overall. Considering his defense this season, if his offensive efficiency remained average or worse, one would question his overall effectiveness as an NBA player at this point. But since his December slump, Wiggins has been on an absolute tear.

Wiggins bounced back in January, averaging 19.9 points per game on 45.4 percent shooting. But since the All-Star break, we have truly seen an unleashed Wiggins that has given validation for those that believed he will be a marquee player in this league.

Since the All-Star break Wiggins is averaging an impressive 21 points, 2.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds a game. His efficiency is also way up, shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three. His true shooting percentage has gone from 52.6 to 58.3 percent since the All-Star break.

These are incredibly impressive numbers from the 21-year-old and a testament to his work ethic and growth as a player.

But the most encouraging thing for Minnesota Timberwolves fans has to be the way he has co-existed with Karl-Anthony Towns. For as good as Wiggins is, Towns seems destined to be in several MVP conversations and possibly turn into the best player in the game.

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It’s incredibly important to the future of the Wolves organization that the two of them develop chemistry and play well together and lately they’ve been doing just that. While Wiggins’ numbers have improved since the All-Star break, he’s using fewer possessions, dropping his usage rate from 28.2 percent to 26 percent.

The shared possessions have resulted in greater success and efficiency for Towns and Wiggins, as both are averaging more than 20 points per game and are in the top 10 in field goal percentage since the All-Star break.

The laid-back and reserved personality of Wiggins seems to be the perfect complement to the showmanship and more conventional leadership qualities of Towns. They share enjoyment in the success of each other and the production of Wiggins should quiet the notion that he lacks the aggressiveness to be successful in the NBA.

Not everybody needs to be an extrovert, and the oddly quiet game could just be the result of a young player looking to find consistency, rather than a damning character flaw. At 21 he has plenty of time to figure things out and find the balance between offense and defense to truly become a dominating force in the league.

If you’re still looking to compare Wiggins to LeBron, you’re missing out on something special by putting unfair expectations on him. There seems to be an inability these days for people to appreciate what’s in front of them for what it is. We can’t even watch the historic season from the Golden State Warriors without comparing them to the past.

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If you want to make a comparison for Wiggins and Towns, you could say they are the next Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal, only they don’t hate each other. But my recommendation would be to appreciate them for what they are, stop piling on unfair expectations and enjoy young stars blossoming into being a part of the future of the NBA.