Unlocking Wiggins will come at cost
To get the most out of Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors will most likely have to play James Wiseman less
To get the most out of Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors will most likely have to play James Wiseman less.
As much as this Warriors season has become about developing the team’s young players, it’s also about getting the most out of veteran Andrew Wiggins.
If the Warriors are ever going to compete for a championship again, they’re going to need the wing to turn into a consistent performer — someone who can give the Warriors more games like we saw Friday night in Memphis where he scored 40 points to lead a shorthanded Golden State team to a win.
But if the Warriors want to get the most out of Wiggins, they’re going to need less James Wiseman.
Yeah, that’s a pretty heavy conflict.
But this point, the evidence is undeniable. Yes, things could improve in the final weeks of the season (the playoffs start in 59 days), it’s far more likely that the Warriors will have to make a choice between the present and the future.
It’s more than fair to say that Wiggins has been a conundrum for his entire career. The Warriors’ wing is an exceptionally talented player — one that was the best high-school prospect in America and a first overall pick in the NBA Draft — but his unaffected attitude mixed with play that is far-too-often passive creates an inherent frustration from those who have seen the flashes of that his talent.
Wiseman is a 19-yearold who had a similar pedigree to Wiggins from the prep ranks, but who also boasted only one viable college basketball game under his belt before entering the league. It’s not at all surprising that amid every moment of unteachable brilliance he’s shown against full-grown men, there have been two or three mistakes.
Both are viewed as part of the Warriors’ core for what they hope is a championship run.
But the two only seem to play well when the other isn’t around.
The Warriors have played 400 minutes with Wiseman and Wiggins on the floor together this season. In those minutes, the Warriors score 96 points per 100 possessions with a net rating of minus-12.3.
That’s the worst offensive two-man unit in the NBA this season, and the worst duo, according to net rating, on any team that’s seriously competing for a playoff spot.
It makes sense that a wing that can be too passive, who can overthink, combined with a center who doesn’t yet know what to do and who isn’t a clean fit in a ball-movement-heavy offense would create issues for the Dubs.
The real question is what Golden State is going to do about it.