Since going first overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins has definitely had an interesting NBA career. The raw scoring totals have always been there, and Wiggins demonstrated enough to earn a five-year, $146.5 million maximum contract extension from the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017.
However, there have been questions about Wiggins’ shot selection and efficiency, as well as what he brings to the table outside of scoring. Last season, the Wolves flipped him to the Golden State Warriors for D’Angelo Russell, and fans were curious to see how Wiggins would play alongside a superstar such as Stephen Curry.
How many people saw this coming, though? Wiggins is emerging as one of the most statistically effective defenders this season, ranking third in the NBA in defended field goal attempts this season with just 38.4 field goal percentage allowed to opposing shooters.
The Warriors have assigned Wiggins to defend the opposing team’s best players on many nights, such as Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic in recent games, and it seems to be paying off as Wiggins has committed to that end of the floor.
For the record, Wiggins is also shooting a career-high 38.5 percent on threes as a complement to the Warriors’ Curry-centric offence, and fans might have been surprised to see that Wiggins — not Jamal Murray or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — was the leading Canadian vote-getter in early All-Star returns.
