Minnesota Timberwolves: How Andrew Wiggins should be used in 2019-20

Taking a closer look at how the Minnesota Timberwolves should look to use Andrew Wiggins during the 2019-20

"“I talked to Ryan Saunders and he said he’s going to be receiving some ball-screen actions, he’s going to be taking the ball up the court at some points,” Mazarei said. “If he grabs a rebound, they don’t mind if he goes. So we did a lot of ballscreen action where he’s the ball-handler"

The personal trainer of Karl-Anthony Towns, Matt Mazarei said this in regards to how Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders plans to use his client next season. If these comments are true, it would behoove Saunders to move Andrew Wiggins to the second unit.

Wiggins was known in amateur ranks as a player that flourishes with the basketball in his hands. Johnathan Givony and Matt Kamalsky of Draft Express raved about his shot creation during their recap of the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit.

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Andrew’s style of play in the amateur ranks has played a vital role in his NBA career as success has been determined by the number of times he gets to touch the ball every game. A prime example of this can be found during his rookie year when Wiggins averaged 43.7 touches per game.

The 43.7 touches allowed him to drive the ball to the basket 5.2 times per game. The 5.2 drives generated 3.1 points and 0.3 assists per game. This accounted for 18.3 percent of his points and 14.2 percent of his assists as he averaged 16.9 points with 2.1 assists.

Wiggins saw a meaningful uptick in his touches the following season as he averaged 46.8 per game. This was an increase of 3.1 touches from his season average of 43.7 per game. The increase in touches led to a boost in drives per game as he averaged 7.5 per game. This was an increase of 2.3 drive per game from the previous season (5.2).

Wiggins proceeded to average 5.2 points and 0.4 assists on these drives. This was an increase of 2.1 points and 0.1 assists per game from the previous season. The combination of these factors helped him average 20.7 points with 2 assists per game. This was an increase of 3.8 points and a decrease of 0.1 assists from the prior year.

Minnesota continued to give Andrew Wiggins a greater on-ball presence as he averaged a career-high 51.3 touches per game. This was an increase of 4.5 touches from his second season with the team. The 51.3 touches led to a hike in his drives per game as he averaged 9.6 a game.

Wiggins proceeded to average 6 points and 0.6 assists on these drives. This was an increase of 0.8 points and 0.2 assists per game from the previous season. The combination of these factors helped him average 23.6 points with 2.3 assists per game. This was an increase of 2.9 points and 0.1 assists from the prior year.

Unfortunately, before his fourth season in the league, Minnesota acquired Jimmy Butler from the Bulls. Jimmy is a player who enjoys being the primary ball-handler in a pick and roll offense.

Jimmy told USA Today that his exit from the Chicago Bulls was partly due to a philosophical difference with Fred Hoiberg over the team’s offense:

"“Look, I iso-ed a little bit (smiles). Yeah, I iso a little bit. And that’s not the way that Fred plays the game. And that’s what I was saying, that it was either, ‘We’re going to build the team around me for a little bit and allow me to distribute the basketball, iso in pick and roll. Or you go with Fred – go up and down, shoot a lot of threes, that type of stuff. That spread type – kind of Golden State-esque, you know what I mean? They went that route, and that’s all I’m saying, and that’s fine. That’s what I was saying. Nothing’s wrong with that.”"

The presence of Butler led to a significant reduction in the touches of Wiggins as he averaged 42.5 per game. Wiggins touched the ball 8.8 fewer times a game than the previous season. The reduction in his touches led to a significant drop in his drives per game as he went from 9.6 to 7.7.

Wiggins created 4.4 points and 0.4 assists for the team on these drives. This was a decrease of 1.6 points and 0.2 assists per game. As a consequence of being forced to play off the ball more, Wiggins’ production saw a sharp decline as he averaged 17.7 with 2 assists per game.

Ryan Saunders’ plan to make Karl-Anthony Towns a point center would continue the recent trend of Wiggins being an off the ball player. When Wiggins is off the ball, he is asked to stand in one of the corners to play the role of bystander/ three-point shooter.

A prime example of this can be found in the first quarter of a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wiggins is standing in the right corner as Jeff Teague passes the ball to KAT, who established post position on the mid-left block. Once this happened, KAT turned around and took a couple of steps towards the paint.

After this occurred, KAT made a step-back mid-range jumper to end the possession. Throughout the possession, Wiggins’ defender Rodney Hood decided to leave him wide open by standing near the right low block because he did not respect Wiggins’ shooting abilities.

Wiggins has a career 3-point percentage of 33.2 percent in five seasons. The shooting percentage is 2.6 percent lower than the league average (35.8 percent) over the last five seasons. This gave Hood the opportunity to analyze the rest of the floor and see if any of his teammates needed help with their assignments.

It isn’t the first time that Andrew Wiggins has been left wide open in this role as a minimum of 85 percent of his 3-point attempts are uncontested by defenders. Therefore, Ryan Saunders should be aware that if he starts Andrew Wiggins, it’ll increase the likelihood that his defender will help out with defending KAT as he tries to be a point center.

The best solution to the is to make Andrew Wiggins a 6th man as it will allow him to get more time as a ball handler. Not only that, but it decreases the likelihood that Karl-Anthony Towns faces a double team.