Following the trade deadline, the arrival of Andrew Wiggins in the Bay Area was a focal point in the Golden State Warriors’ stretch run of the 2019-20 season.
However, when the season was put on hold due to the coronavirus, Wiggins’ opening stint in Golden State was cut short. With the Warriors one of the eight teams on the outside of the Orlando Bubble, the former Minnesota Timberwolves wing was limited to 12 games, averaging 19.4 points on 45.7% shooting from the field with 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Although it was only a handful of games, Wiggins made a solid first impression on his new head coach. In a recent appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Steve Kerr spoke about Golden State’s trade for the former first overall pick. Kerr had high praise for Wiggins fit with Golden State on the defensive end.
I wasn’t surprised at all about what we saw because I’ve coached against him [Wiggins] now for the last six years and he’s had big games against us.
The biggest thing for us was all about what you need today to win games. The game has changed so much. And it’s so hard to guard. I watched Houston – Dallas the other night, and it was, 151-148 — How do you guard anybody? There’s nobody in the paint; you got 10 guys who could shoot threes, penetrate and kick. So you got to have size and versatility on the wings.
And you think about our roster, losing Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, those guys obviously for good. Two to retirement and one to free agency, then Klay Thompson for the year. That’s basically our main wing core defensively. Those guys represented, along with Draymond, everything that not only we’ve been about over the last five-six years, but what the league has turned into — multi-positional defenders who can complement one another and guard their position, but also guard two or three other positions.
Andrew has the size and athleticism to do exactly that. And we knew that. And he was an excellent defender for us during the last stretch and played really well offensively. He may not be an MVP candidate, but he’s a damn good player, and he fits right in with what we’re trying to do. He gives us some of that defensive versatility that we lost with all those defections.
The Kansas Jayhawk product was active on the defensive side of the floor in Golden State, averaging 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per contest. In his first pair of games with the Warriors, Wiggins recorded new career highs in steals (5) and blocks (4).
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With Golden State’s extended offseason on deck, Wiggins will have time to get familiar with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the floor. Wiggins was in the lineup for Curry’s much-anticipated return from injury. In his only game alongside the two-time MVP, Wiggins tallied a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards.
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If Wiggins clicks with a healthy edition of the Splash Brothers in 2020-21, Golden State will have a steadier climb back to the Western Conference postseason.
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