Wiggins agrees to healthy extension
Timberwolves star signs five-year deal worth $148M to stay with emerging team
He did it on his own timeline, and in unique fashion, but Andrew Wiggins has hit a financial motherlode that makes him one of the NBA’s bestpaid players.
The 22-year-old native of Vaughan, son of former NBAer Mitchell Wiggins and Canadian Olympian Marita Payne, has finally signed a five-year contract extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves that is worth a reported $148 million (U.S.).
It elevates the six-foot-eight swingman into the upper echelon of NBA earners despite the fact he has never played in a post-season game and is now being touted as a complementary player on a Minnesota team that includes all-star Jimmy Butler and emerging star Karl-Anthony Towns.
“This is where I want to be,” Wiggins said at a news conference to officially announce his signing.
Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft, is as good a young, third option as there is in the NBA. While not as proven as a 10-year veteran, he has increased his scoring output in each of his first three seasons, averaging 23.6 points per game last year, and is a respectable 35.6 per cent threepoint shooter.
He is durable, having missed only one game in his first three seasons, including a rookie of the year campaign in 2014-15, and he fit seamlessly with Towns last season, giving rise to optimism around a Minnesota team that hasn’t been in the NBA playoffs since 2004.
Minnesota owner Glen Taylor insisted on a face-to-face meeting with Wiggins before extending the offer, wanting to look into the eye of a young man he has made rich beyond the wildest expectations of normal people.
“Just making sure we’re both committed toward this,” Wiggins told reporters at Wednesday’s news conference. “We both love the Timberwolves.”
Now with Wiggins on a long-term deal, with Butler under contract for at least two years and with Towns eligible for a five-year extension this time next year, the Timberwolves are poised to be one of the up-and-coming teams in the hyper-talented Western Conference.
“We feel strongly that (Wiggins) is just scratching the surface of the player he will become,” Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said in a statement.
“Andrew is among the elite young talents in our league and the sky is the limit for him. We look forward to watching his development in the coming years.”