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Golden State Warriors: 3 goals for Andrew Wiggins next season

By Luke Duffy

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 10: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Golden State Warriors warms up before the game against the Miami Heat at Chase Center on February 10, 2020 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 10: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Golden State Warriors warms up before the game against the Miami Heat at Chase Center on February 10, 2020 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

3. Improved defending

For much of the career of Wiggins so far, it has been too easy to criticize and ridicule him without looking at all of the facts. This job was made even easier when Wiggins played for the Timberwolves, a franchise that wasn’t really going anywhere and had Karl-Anthony Towns as their best player.

Wiggins has averaged 19.7 points per game over the course of his career so far, an impressive number. Except this was done on teams that largely didn’t make the playoffs, so he was seen as an “empty stats” kind of player. In order for Wiggins to move away from this, he needs to become a better defender.

Again the laziness with which he is derided means that most fans overemphasize how bad of a defender Wiggins actually is. In truth, it is not that bad, by no means good, but there are signs of encouragement there. This goes against the thinking we had when he came out of college that he would be an elite scorer.

The reality of his career as it continues to develop however is that Wiggins could help the Warriors, or any team really, by being a two-way player. Wiggins had a defensive rating of 112.8 last season, a touch higher than his career as a whole. The Timberwolves’s rating of 111.6 meant that, if nothing else, Wiggins wasn’t harming them hugely on that end.

He only played 12 games for the Warriors, a small sample size, but that injury decimated roster had a defensive rating of 113. Wiggins was able to help on that end, but to be fair so could any league-average player, something which Wiggins is not. He is better than that, despite what you may think.

It would be great if, next season, the scoring of Wiggins went down a notch in order for his defensive ability to increase. The Warriors aren’t going to need that much scoring from him, but with Curry and Thompson coming back from injury and Green often coasting during the regular season, it would be great if he could be trusted with bigger defensive assignments.

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