3 ways the Golden State Warriors can maximize Andrew Wiggins’ potential

Play him off the bench to start next year

Andrew Wiggins has started in all 454 games he’s ever appeared in. But don’t be surprised to see him come off the bench at some point during next season. It’d behoove the Warriors to bench him in some fashion to start the year, even if it’s just a 10-game stretch.

In a starting lineup where Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are averaging 30-35 shots per game, the best fit to get Wiggins going may lie in the second unit.

There aren’t really any players on this Golden State Warriors squad that make sense to start over the forward from a talent perspective, but when you factor in the opportunity it will present Wiggins: maybe.

Some of Wiggins’s best minutes with the Timberwolves this season were those in which he was able to serve as the primary ball-handler and facilitator. And next to Curry and Thompson, or even Draymond Green, the chances of him playing that role are slim to none.

Playing him in a second unit featuring a number of the non-household name, G-League call-up shot makers we’ve seen Golden State roll out this season allows Wiggins to be creative and assertive. Hopefully, he takes to being the number one option.

So much so that he inevitably gets the bump up to the Warriors starting lineup, or out the door to his next stop. Because if we learned anything from the Golden State-D’Angelo Russell saga, it’s that they’ve got to remain patient. That being said…