Andrew Wiggins
Golden State Warriors

Player Facts

Height: 6'7"
Weight: 197lbs.

Wingspan: 7'0"

Date of Birth: Feb. 23, 1995
College Experience: Kansas (1 year)

Selections

All Star: 1
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 9
Physical Strength: 6
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 9
Paint Scoring: 8
Midrange Scoring: 6
Three-Point Scoring: 7
Dribbling: 7
Passing: 5
Perimeter Defense: 8
Interior Defense: 7
Rebounding: 7

Embed from Getty Images

JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Taking it to the Rack

> Using Screens + Handoffs

> Post Scoring

> Cutting + Fast Break Scoring

> Swingman Shot-Blocking

> Wing Defense

> Open Court Defense

> Inconsistencies

> Uninspiring Playmaking

> Sub-Elite Shooting

> Defensive Critiques

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of MaxaMillion711, NF & Z. Highlights (YouTube)

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

The 6'7" swingman is an ultra-athletic player. Wiggins can slash and get to the free-throw line some, at his best when playing in a defined role. His defense has become very stout on the wing and he has some multi-positional chops to boot.

While not a great jump shooter, Andrew has shored up his distance shooting as he's matured. Wiggins is now someone that at least cannot be ignored out there. He sports a lengthy seven-foot wingspan as his nice measurables round out his improved skillset.

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Taking it to the Rack

Wiggins is a slash-first offensive player. He's got the size, length, and athleticism to knife his way to the hole. Andrew complements those physical tools with some craft, often spinning tightly to elude defenders.

He looks to drive into the teeth of the defense as he should. The tall perimeter player is a good finisher yet is nimble enough to squeeze through gaps en route to the hoop. Wiggins finishes best when he springs upward and uses his athleticism to finish over people.

His 14.1 drives per game in 2019-2020 was tied with LeBron James, beating out Kawhi Leonard, Brandon Ingram, and Zach LaVine.

At the tin, he does a good job of extending out and away from his body on the finish. He maintains focus with his eyes locked onto the rim even after a hard spin move. Andrew converted a very impressive 71.6% of his rim attempts in 2021-2022, many of those being dunks.

Using Screens + Handoffs

Wiggins is comfortable operating in the pick-and-roll at his position if a little too scoring-minded. He'll often use a skip after the screen to assess whether to explode to the cup or not. On switches, Andrew pulls it back out to exploit the plodding big in space.

Also with his big men, Wiggins can score via DHO's. He will occasionally rise up off the receival here but is better served to slash. Andrew's 66 handoff points in 2021-2022 beat out CJ McCollum and Derrick White.

Post Scoring

As a supplemental source of on-ball scoring, Wiggins isn't afraid to post smaller players. He'll crab dribble into a fader or spring up with a hook/flip shot using those pogo-stick legs. In Minnesota, he was in the 69th percentile scoring via post-ups (2019-2020). 2020-2021 again had him in the league's upper half.

Cutting + Fast Break Scoring

Playing off-ball, the core of his value is back-cutting and face-cutting. The Kansas product bolts backdoor often in the Warriors' motion system. His vertical pop at 6'7" helps him be an effective finisher on these dashes to the tin.

As a member of the Timberwolves in 2019-2020, he was in the 89th percentile scoring off cuts. This occurred while playing next to guys like Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Robert Covington, and Karl-Anthony Towns.

That athletic makeup that plays so well on cuts and finishes in the half-court continues to work in the open court. Andrew can beat almost anyone down the floor when running at full tilt. His large catch radius on lobs as a wing player adds value to his lane-filling.

2020-2021 saw him score 236 points on the fast break. His time in Golden State has seen him benefit from even better playmakers/outlet passers Stephen Curry and Draymond Green compared to his prior teammates.

His solid defensive rebounding at small forward allows for some grab-and-go possibilities. His 3.7 defensive boards per game in 2020-2021 was more than serviceable. It actually proved higher than bigs like Derrick Favors and Brook Lopez.

Swingman Shot-Blocking

Andrew has made strides as a defensive player since his younger NBA days. Most notably, the counting stats have risen as his career presses on. While his steals averages tend to stay stagnant, climbing blocks per game figures indicate some disruption-based growth, particularly as an off-ball defender.

Becoming a more cerebral team defender has allowed Wiggins to tap into that length and bounce he's always possessed. The more mature version of Andrew can be a solid defender at the bottom of a zone, considering he's a non-big.

The former Jayhawk has even begun to time up some more perimeter blocks on shooters. In fact, 2019-2020 saw him average a near-even number of two-point contests versus three-point.

He posted 4.5 2pt contests/night against 4.2 3pt contests/night (2019-2020). That very same quick-leaping capability that he uses on his slam dunks is also a tool as he bothers shooters.

Wing Defense

Even his individual defense has improved mightily. Andrew can offer up solid man defense, with active hands and the mobility to mirror his counterpart move-for-move. That outstanding maneuverability also allows Wiggins to capably check zippy guards.

Open Court Defense

Finally, Andrew is perfectly built to be an awesome transition defender. When he wants to, he can turn on the jets to then erase or alter would-be easy lay-ins. That seven-foot wingspan comes in handy here.

WEAKNESSES

Inconsistencies

Andrew's on-court weaknesses are more mental than they are having to do with a lack of ability. His basketball IQ gets questioned at times, and the effort level is not always there. Wiggins could also benefit from more of that "killer instinct" that players with far less natural talent use to prop up their play.

His athleticism, particularly his bounce, is off the charts. Unfortunately, he can get complacent when finishing, looking to avoid contact rather than invite it. An incredible leaper, Wiggins is capable of posterizing people but instead doesn't always finish with force.

Uninspiring Playmaking

Some underdeveloped offensive skills are there beyond just the occasional bashfulness. A glaring one is his subpar playmaking at the wing position. Andrew rarely makes the advanced reads expected of a swingman who has run plenty of pick-and-rolls.

His assist-to-turnover ratio can be barely positive in a given season. One reason is that he tends to get some tunnel vison on his dribble drives. As well, he fails to create much for teammates through purely a volume lens.

2020-2021 saw Andrew post just 6.2 points generated off his assists per game. Score-first players Tobias Harris, Seth Curry, and Harrison Barnes were all above this unimpressive figure. 2019-2020 had him average 9.8 assist points created per contest while playing 34.4 minutes/game, but this still had him outside the top-20 among just forwards.

Sub-Elite Shooting

The shooting streakiness continues to live on within his spot-up chances. Wiggins' shooting form is not broken by any means, he's just not a big-time threat from downtown. This cuts down his value as an off-ball player significantly.

A catch-and-shoot three clip hovering around 35% is not quite good enough to truly space the floor. Playing the three, more is expected of Wiggins as a shooter.

He was unable to redeem himself on short corner threes either in 2019-2020, shooting just 33.3% on these looks. However, as of 2020-2021, he has made some strides in the spot-up area at least.

Lastly, on offense, the midrange has been a source of many misses for Andrew as well. He's used this zone quite a bit over the years but his shooting numbers are a far cry from the league's best. From 2015-2016 to 2019-2020, Wiggins hit merely 656 of 1878 midrange jumpers (34.9%). Some of these are just plain bad, tough shots as well.

Defensive Critiques

Defensively, all the physical tools are there to be a prime-time stopper. While Andrew has inched closer to his ceiling as he's matured, greater effort on a nightly basis would still be nice. A specific critique would be noting a lack of fight to get over on and off-ball screens at times.

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bacon
Beacon Bacon

While selected first overall by Cleveland (2014), Andrew never suited up for the Cavaliers as they promptly traded him in a package for Kevin Love