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The population in Andrew Wiggins Island has been declining year over year as the Minnesota Timberwolves forward has, so far, failed to live up to the expectations of a number one overall pick. Many are already close to labeling Wiggins a bust, but Minnesota is still holding on to a glimmer of hope that he will eventually be able to figure it out. The clock is ticking for the 24-year old, and the 2019-20 NBA season will be an important one for the young man.
Recently, head coach Ryan Saunders admitted that they'll only go as far as Wiggins is able to take them. Minnesota's success hinges on whether Wiggins can finally tap into the enormous potential he once had when he arrived as a highly-anticipated prospect in 2014.
Wiggins needs to have his breakout campaign as early as the 2019-20 season. Here are some goals that the former no. 1 overall pick needs to achieve if he's going to have his much-awaited leap this year.
Return to Being an Efficient 20-point Scorer
If there's one thing that could save Wiggins' career, it's his scoring. The man has the potential to become a premier bucket-getter as he has shown the ability to score from anywhere from the floor. Unfortunately, he's actually regressed in this particular category as his career has went on.
Wiggins actually had a pretty promising sophomore campaign with Minnesota in the 2015-16 season. The former Jayhawk averaged nearly 20.7 PPG on a solid 45.9 percent shooting clip from the field. He followed that up with an even better third season, where he averaged 23.6 PPG on a steady 45.2 percent shooting from the field.
However, with the arrival of Jimmy Butler in the 2017-18 season, Wiggins took a major step back. His production dropped to 17.7 PPG and so did his shooting percentages to 43.8 percent.
He never regained his mojo this past season either even with Jimmy-B out of sight for the majority of the season. Perhaps the pre-season Butler saga that spilled over into the season may have messed his head up so much that he was never able to recover for the rest of the year. His numbers in 2018-19 remained relatively stagnant at 18.8 PPG on 41.2 percent shooting – the worst shooting season of his career.
With Butler no longer in the picture and more of Minnesota's keys in his grasp, Wiggins can use this opportunity to raise to his production and efficiency once again, particularly to the level of his third season. Ideally, that's the kind of output we should expect from the former no. 1 pick.
Become more of a Playmaker
Wiggins has shown flashes that he can become a good playmaker. However, he just hasn't been able to tap into that aspect of his game yet.
But that is something that he needs to improve on and it has to show on the stat-sheet. Perhaps, averaging a reachable 4 assists per game next season would certainly be a step in the right direction for Wiggins.
For his career, Wiggins averages just 2.2 assists per game. Last season, he averaged a mere 2.5, already the highest clip in his career.
It's kind of a shame because Wiggins has actually displayed that he has a good feel in passing the ball. The problem with Wiggins is his decision-making with his passes.
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More often than not, Wiggins' passes lead to turnovers or to non-scoring opportunities for his teammates. It would certainly help Minnesota's system if the 6-foot-8 forward can help make plays for others. With his athleticism and under-the-radar passing ability, Wiggins can certainly provide that for them.
He has a prime chance to do just that as the Timberwolves obviously no longer have Butler on the team. Moreover, their other ball-dominant guard last season, Derrick Rose, moved on to the Detroit Pistons this past summer. Starting point guard Jeff Teague is getting up there in age and Minnesota might look to move him at some point next season.
With that said, coach Ryan Saunders will probably feature Wiggins more as a playmaker, not only for himself, but for his teammates, as well, next season.
Become a Better Three-Point Shooter
For his career, Wiggins shoots just 33.2 percent from long-range. His best season-long percentage is at 35.6 percent during the 2016-17 season, arguably his best season as a pro.
Wiggins has actually increased his frequency of shooting threes as it rose up to 28.8 percent of his total shot attempts in 2018-19. The increase in volume didn't have any negative effects – or anything positive either – as his percentages remained relatively stagnant.
Interestingly so, he's actually a good three-point shooter from the corner. He shot a blistering 47.6 percent from that area last season and for his career, he has made 42.6 percent of his corner triples.
However, Wiggins doesn't shoot from the corner three that often. Just 16.4 percent of his 348 three-point shot attempts last season came from the corner, which is nearly identical to his career frequency from that spot.
If Wiggins starts jacking up a good chunk of his threes from the corner, maybe he can become a more efficient shooter from downtown. Getting into that 36 to 38 percent range would be an attainable goal for him starting next season.
The Timberwolves are banking on Wiggins to take a major leap next season. If his numbers reflect the ones suggested above – 20-plus points per game, four assists per game while shooting over 45 percent from the field and somewhere between 36 to 38 percent shooting from long-distance – then that should count for a step in the right direction for the 2014-15 Rookie of the Year.
