There was no sense sugarcoating what was obvious to anyone watching the Golden State Warriors. Just one game into the regular season, Steve Kerr admitted that Andrew Wiggins was off to a “slow start.” That was two weeks ago, and the numbers suggest Wiggins hasn't been any better amid widespread concerns about his effort, energy and overall play.

Wiggins is averaging 10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and less than one assist and steal per game in 2023-24, shooting just 40% overall and a dismal 15.0% from beyond the arc. Golden State is getting outscored by 8.7 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, and dominating opponents to the tune of a +19.6 net rating when he's on the bench—both easy team-worsts. It's no wonder Wiggins has been benched in crunch-time for the majority of the Warriors' close games this season. Unable to knock down open shots or consistently affect the game in other meaningful ways, he's most often been replaced in the Dubs' closing five by Gary Payton II, Moses Moody or Jonathan Kuminga.

To a man, the Warriors expressed nothing but confidence in Wiggins from the moment his struggles became impossible to ignore. He scored 11 points on 13 shots and grabbed five rebounds in shorthanded Golden State's hard-fought loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, clanking all three of his triples while failing to record an assist, steal or block. The box score indicated Wiggins' performance, basically, was just more of the frustrating same.

Asked after Friday's practice what more he needs to see out of Wiggins, though, Kerr made clear he believes the 10th-year wing has already begun turning the corner.

“I’m seeing Andrew look much better physically the last couple games. His on-ball defense has been great. He’s comin',” Kerr said. “I’m not worried about him at all. Like I said, he’s got this long track record. So we know what Wiggs can do, and the fact that he’s looking really good defensively on-ball means his conditioning is there, and I think the rhythm will follow.”

Warriors can't reach championship ceiling without Andrew Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins, Golden State Warriors

It was barely more than a full season ago when Andrew Wiggins made his case as arguably the top two-way role player in basketball.

He was absolutely indispensable during the Warriors' 2022 championship run, slowing down Luka Doncic in the Western Conference Finals and making life hell for Jayson Tatum with the Larry O'Brien Trophy on the line. Wiggins' dogged, disruptive on-ball defense and new commitment to crashing the glass was supplemented by reliable multi-level scoring on the other end, too. He was Golden State's second-leading scorer with 18.3 points per game in the 2022 Finals, consistently getting to his spots and attacking the rim despite facing a Boston Celtics team loaded with versatile, quality one-on-one defenders.

It's unfair to simply submit that Wiggins took a step back last season. He was shooting 45.0% from deep on nearly seven attempts per game when he suffered an adductor injury in early December, exploding for 36 points and eight threes on 19 shots in his final game before missing the next month of action. Wiggins needed time to re-acclimate upon returning to the court in January, a process made more difficult by an illness sidelining him for consecutive games two weeks after his adductor was finally healthy.

But the progress Wiggins had clearly made—highlighted by a 29-point, seven-round, four-assist outing against the Washington Wizards sans Curry just before the All-Star break—was quickly erased by more circumstances beyond his control. Wiggins missed the last two months of the regular season while tending to a family issue, only coming back once the playoffs tipped off. He was solid on both ends against the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, especially for a player thrown straight into the postseason pressure cooker following eight weeks away from the game.

Even Wiggins' admirable end to 2022-23 was marred by more negative happenstance. He fractured his ribs in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals, leaving him a shell of himself as the Dubs faced elimination against LeBron James and the Lakers.

No one gave any public indication that Wiggins' recovery from broken ribs affected his offseason training. It was plain to see that Wiggins wasn't himself physically as 2023-24 tipped off, though, and Kerr's Friday comments only reinforce the notion he began the season lacking degrees of explosiveness and overall athletic verve. Plays like these against Denver suggest he's getting them back.

Gary Payton II, fully healthy, is back to his ultra-disruptive, game-changing ways on both sides of the ball. Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga are both enjoying third-year leaps, already establishing themselves as nightly rotation players this season with ample room to grow. Impactful as they've been in the season's early going, Payton, Moody and Kuminga just don't provide the two-way dynamism Wiggins does when he's playing anywhere near his established peak.

Wiggins can capably check four positions while making his presence felt as a help defender and on the glass. He can splash open threes, attack close-outs, drive transition play and get buckets all over the floor—as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, right block post scorer and isolation creator—when the Dubs' offense bogs down. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 draft never developed into a superstar, obviously, but still possesses the rare, scalable versatility that allows him to make contributions to winning basketball almost no matter what Golden State asks of him—at least when Wiggins is right physically, playing with the necessary confidence and aggression.

The Warriors will need all hands on deck to win a remarkable fifth title in 10 seasons this year. It's extremely encouraging to that end that Payton looks like he did in 2022, not to mention that Moody and Kuminga have done enough to gain the burgeoning trust of Kerr and his coaching staff. But make no mistake: Golden State's championship ceiling still relies on Wiggins scraping his own.

Striving to put those early-season labors firmly in the rearview mirror, pay close attention to Andrew Wiggins on the Warriors' upcoming six-game home stand. The better he is, the more real the Dubs' hopeful status as top-tier championship contenders will become.