Minnesota Timberwolves: How Andrew Wiggins can kick-start his career

Minnesota Timberwolves F Andrew Wiggins should be used in a role where he can dominate the ball to accentuate his strength, which is shot-creation, in order to jumpstart his career

There is nothing more deceiving than an organization blaming a player’s work ethic for the lack of success in their career.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler and head coach Tom Thibodeau expressed those very sentiments in regards to Andrew Wiggins behind closed doors.

According to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News:

"they “had problems last season with Wiggins, his work ethic and his approach on the defensive end of the floor”."

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However, one argue can that work ethic is not the main catalyst behind Andrew Wiggins’s lack of improvement. The lack of improvement is associated with Andrew being in the wrong role.

According to Draft Express:

"“Wiggins is a very effective shot-creator thanks to his terrific quickness and scoring instincts. He uses crafty jukes and hesitation moves to get his man off balance and then blow by him, where he can finish above the rim in highlight reel fashion”."

As a result, a team should let Andrew Wiggins walk the basketball up to the three-point line and pay attention to his defender to determine the next course of action. If the defender gave him a few feet of space, he would pull up to shoot the wide-open mid-range jumper. On the other hand, if the defender played him tight, he will attempt to drive towards the basket for an easy basket, to draw a foul or attract a double team.

Unfortunately, Andrew Wiggins plays in offensive systems centered around the post up and pick-and-roll sequences.

For example, the point guard would dribble the basketball up to the 3-point line and pass the ball to a teammate who was posting up in the mid to low block. Once the teammate received the ball, he would try to back the defender with one of his shoulders to get within a comfortable range to shoot a jump hook, turn around jumper, layup or dunk. Another example of this is when the point guard dribbled the basketball up to the 3-point line and passed the ball to a teammate standing at the top of the key.

After the teammate received the basketball, he would pass the ball to a second teammate standing on the wing. The second teammate would dump the ball into the mid to low block to restart the process of shooting a jump hook, turn around jumper, layup or dunk.

However, there were instances where the Minnesota Timberwolves decided to run some pick and roll sequences.

For example, the point guard dribbled the basketball up to the 3-point line and passed the ball to a teammate standing at the top of the key. After the teammate received the basketball, he would give the ball to a second teammate standing on the wing.

The second teammate would call for a screen to be set to begin the process of the pick and roll. Once the pick was established, the second teammate would pay attention to his defender to determine the course of action.

For example, if the defender stayed under the screen, he would either shoot the ball immediately or go over the screen to shoot a mid-range jumper. On the other hand, if the defender fought over the screen, he would go over it as well and drive towards the basket to score or pass the basketball.

As a result of these offensive systems, the system would often Wiggins standing behind the three-point line as a bystander or in the role of a spot shooter. Accounting to NBA.com, Wiggins only touched the ball 42.5 times a game last season. His touches were fifth on the team behind Jeff Teague, Jimmy Butler, Karl Anthony-Towns and Taj Gibson.

If the Minnesota Timberwolves keep Andrew Wiggins, they should bring him off the bench and let him dominate the ball for 20 minutes against backups. During his lone season at the university of Kansas, Andrew Wiggins had more opportunities to dominate the ball. According to Sports-Reference, Wiggins had a usage rate of 26.3 percent at Kansas. Basketball- Reference states that usage rate is an estimated “percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor”. His usage percentage in college was 2.9 percent higher than last year with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Furthermore, his best season as a professional was his third year when he had a usage rate of 29 percent. During this season, he averaged 23.6 points per game with 2.3 assists and 4.0 rebound.

Better yet? A trade. Having an offense that accentuates his strengths would mean that the team would have to double his touches per game, putting him in a similar class to LeBron James who averages 87.1 touches per game

The change in role would give Wiggins an opportunity to showcase his strengths and become a bigger version of Lou Williams or Isaiah Thomas in Boston. Lou has a career average of 13.7 points per game with 3.1 assists and 2.1 rebounds predominantly coming off the bench.

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On the other hand, Thomas averaged 24.7 points per game with 6.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds on 72.7 touches in a season and a half as the number one option for the Celtics. During his tenure with the Celtics, Isaiah led the team to two playoff appearances including an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2017.

And that’s a better fate than what he has now – a player doubted by his organization.

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