With Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star shooting guard Jimmy Butler out four-to-six weeks due to successful meniscus surgery on his right knee, rising star small forward Andrew Wiggins is really going to have to step it up down the stretch of the regular season, as he sees his role expand at both ends of the floor.
During an interview with reporter David Aldridge of TNT just before he suffered his unfortunate injury, Butler opened up about Wiggins' great attention to detail as a young player.
“All you have to do is tell Wigg one time. He wants to do right by everybody. But he’s going to always to try to do exactly what you tell him to do. That’s the good part about Wiggs. You really don’t have to tell him more than once. He gets it, he understands it, he doesn’t want to step on anybody’s toes,” Butler said.
Butler says that he has a large amount of trust invested in Andrew Wiggins and can fully rely on him as a teammate in Minnesota.
“So if you tell Wiggs, you’ve got to do this, you don’t have to worry about Wiggs not doing it. He’s going to make sure it happens.
Everybody’s different. Some people, as good or as bad as it sounds, will look at you like, ‘yeah, whatever.’ That’s just part of this league, having NBA guys. You can’t tell everybody everything. But the ones that you can, you run with those,” Butler said.
After the addition of Jimmy Butler and point guard Jeff Teague, Wiggins' scoring average has declined almost six points per game this season compared to last year. With Butler now out of the lineup, he is now the Wolves' No. 2 scoring option behind star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
Wiggins, who was the top overall pick back in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, is averaging 17.7 points. 4.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game so far this season. Opponents, however, are scoring 3.7 points more per 48 minutes when he is on the bench, highlighting his defensive shortcomings.
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