Andrew Wiggins is the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year, although lately Nerlens Noel, Elfrid Payton, and Nikola Mirotic have begun to sneak their way into the conversation. Still, Wiggins is favored, and not only will he win the award, he will go on to be a fantastic player in this league for many years to come.
Andrew Wiggins was extremely hyped coming out of high school. He had all the physical tools. He’s 6’8″ and can play the 2 or the 3. He has a 7’0″ wingspan and a 44″ vertical. Scouts and fans alike saw his athletic prowess. They saw a kid who could jump out of the gym, and already had a decent jump shot which he could get off the dribble or in catch-and-shoot situations. He was being called the next LeBron James; a once-in-a-generation talent. A surefire NBA superstar.
When Wiggins was at Kansas, fans became less sure. His stock fell a bit. He was still the go-to guy for his team, and he averaged 17.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game on 44.8% shooting from the field and 34.1% from 3. While those are pretty strong numbers, they were a bit underwhelming given the unfair expectations that the world had for Wiggins. Furthermore, there were whispers that Wiggins looked disengaged at times, and was generally not aggressive.
However, Wiggins would not be the first player who was called non-agressive in college but was able to excel in the NBA. After former-MVP Kevin Durant‘s freshman year at Texas, Draftexpress.com wrote this about him:
“One aspect of his game that was put on center stage throughout the (NCAA) tournament was his tendency to disappear throughout stretches of the game. For 10 minutes, you will be watching the best player the college game has had to offer in the last 10 years. Then for 5 minutes, you will forget that he is even on the floor offensively.
This is very similar to the criticism Wiggins received in college. However, Kevin Durant shook off all that criticism, won Rookie of the Year, and went on to earn league MVP in 2014. Wiggins is on his way to earning Rookie of the Year honors, and that should be his stepping stone to superstardom.
In Durant’s first season in the league, he averaged 20.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game on 43% shooting. These numbers are eerily similar to Wiggins’ numbers since the All-Star Break; 19.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game on 45.2% shooting.
Durant, now one of the best shooters in the league, shot under 29% from 3 his rookie year. Wiggins, who has had a reputation of being a shaky jump shooter, has shot 31.9% from 3. While 31.9% isn’t a good clip to be shooting 3s at, it’s better than Durant’s was in his first season. If Wiggins can follow the path that Durant has, then he’ll be in excellent shape.
In Durant’s second season in the league, he averaged 25.3 points per game, to go along with 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He also bumped up his shooting numbers to 47.6% from the field and 42.2% from 3. Durant’s improvement shooting-wise was rather incredible, as his 3-point shooting jumped almost 14% from his rookie to sophomore season. If Wiggins can make a similar leap in his second season, he can become what Durant is: One of the best players in the NBA.
Wiggins has already adjusted to the NBA level faster than most thought he would out of college. Part of this is that he was not given time to ease into the NBA, but was expected to be a key piece of the team from day one. He was in the starting lineup in his very first game in Minnesota, and has started in every game since. So far in his first season, Wiggins has put up solid numbers, and has received high praise from his peers around the league.
Kobe Bryant compared Wiggins to himself, telling ESPN’s Baxter Holmes:
I remember being Andrew Wiggins,” Bryant said. “I remember playing against Michael my first year. To be here tonight and to play against him, seeing the baby face and the little footwork or little technique things that he’s going to be much sharper at as time goes on — it was like looking at a reflection of myself 19 years ago. It was pretty cool.”
Kobe seeing himself in Wiggins is very high praise. Wiggins would love to have a career anywhere near as successful as Kobe’s.
Lebron James also talked about Wiggins, telling ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
“He’s a great talent,” James said. “A great talent. I think he has a very, very good feel for the game. That’s good to see. He’s really calm. He played the game the right way tonight. He didn’t make many mistakes. I don’t know, as a rookie you expect that, but I think he’s grown each month in the season as far as a rookie. So they got a good piece.”
Somebody with a basketball IQ as extremely high as Lebron’s saying that Wiggins has a good feel for the game is a huge compliment.
Wiggins has shown his superstar potential time and time again this season, making a ton of impressive plays. One game in particular stood out: A matchup against James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
This next play is jaw-dropping. Wiggins makes one of, if not the fastest step-backs I’ve ever seen. He creates so much space, and drills the jumper.
The play below is just great basketball all around by Wiggins. James Harden is arguably the hardest player to guard in the world, and Wiggins just completely shuts him down on this play, blocking him and then getting a dunk plus the foul on the other end.
It just so happened that Wiggins finished this game with 30 points, 6 rebounds while shooting 12-24 from the floor. Andrew Wiggins played great basketball against Harden, and Harden was impressed. Per The Houston Chronicle:
“He is a great talent,” Harden said. “He is so athletic, so skilled and so long. Offensively he is getting a lot better.”
Wiggins couldn’t live up to the unfair expectations that the public had for him in college, but now he’s showing why he was such a highly-touted prospect. Wiggins will be a great player in this league. He’s been compared to incredible players such as Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, and those comparisons were made for a reason. Wiggins has all the tools to succeed, and he’s going to be the next superstar in the NBA.
