The Golden State Warriors’ championship window could be elongated if their former 2022 All-Star puts forth a career year this season.
Warriors need Andrew Wiggins to reach his apex in the post-Klay Thompson era
Losing Klay Thompson in the offseason was a major blow for the franchise. Thompson’s historic three-point shooting and scoring onslaughts helped Golden State capture four championships since 2015. That being said, the franchise can only look ahead from here. Wiggins was brought on board ahead of their fourth title in 2020-21 and was their second-most impactful player throughout that Finals run the ensuing year. That same efficacy and then some is what will be needed for the Warriors to rally around superstar Stephen Curry and continue making noise in the Western Conference.
Wiggins has the talent and experience to become a finished product in 2024-25
Wiggins is no stranger to volume scoring. The Kansas product averaged over 20 points per game in three of his first six seasons in the league. He topped out at 23.6 PPG in 2016-17. Though he has not crossed that threshold for the last four seasons heading into the current campaign, he’ll have major license to take more shots in the offense and become the 25 PPG contributor he was projected to be after being taken No. 1 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Currently, the Canadian star is boasting 18.5 PPG and a career-high 5.8 rebounds on another career-best 51 percent shooting from the field in only 26.8 minutes per game through four outings. Wiggins could realistically be seeing close to 10 additional minutes per contest. Accordingly, his per 36 minutes average of 24.9 PPG would fall right in line with where his scoring could reach should his assertiveness come to a head. He’s getting his regular season average of 18.5 PPG on a mere 12.3 field goal attempts a night — the latter of which ranks No. 3 on the Warriors behind Buddy Hield (15.2 FGA) and Curry (13.7 FGA).
Right now, the Warriors (5-1) have several players pitching in as teamwork is making the dream work. Albeit, as the season progresses and Golden State starts seeing amped-up defenses catered toward stopping Curry, Wiggins will be given more opportunities to take the offense into his own hands as their secondary All-Star-caliber shot-maker. Thus, there is a strong likelihood that his attempts from the floor increase toward the 16.5 FGA that his per 36 minutes peripherals show.
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Wiggins’ stout defense & rebounding will help him blossom
Defensively, the 29-year-old can stand next to many of the best ball-stoppers in the Association. He also has underrated shot-blocking capabilities. Wiggins’ most redeeming quality outside of his bucket-getting prowess is his rebounding. That’s what made him a hero and breakout performer in the 2022 Finals, where he corraled 8.8 boards in Golden State’s six-game series win over the Boston Celtics.
Cleaning the glass in a similar fashion from a qualitative standpoint could enable him to create second-chance looks for himself and his teammates and ignite the break off of the defensive boards.
All in all, if Wiggins can be the 25 and 5 No. 2 option next to Curry that he’s more than capable of being, the Warriors will be well-positioned to contend and continue the level of play that’s earned them a 5-1 start to the year.
