Andrew Wiggins is still working toward his long-awaited on-court return to the Golden State Warriors. As the postseason finally dawns, though, the importance of Wiggins getting some additional practice time by his team avoiding the play-in tournament still looms large.

Steve Kerr updated Wiggins' status on Sunday before his team's regular-season finale against the tanking Portland Trail Blazers, sharing new details on his place in the “ramp up” process after being away from the team for seven weeks due to a family matter.

“He got some 3-on-3 work in yesterday, a little 5-on-5. Every day he's progressing and putting in the work,” Kerr said of Wiggins. “The whole thing is after a seven-week absence there has to be a ramp up period, and that's what he's doing right now. It would be irresponsible for us to just throw him out there and expose him to injury, so he has to go through the process. Our performance team is putting him through that process, and he's getting a lot of good work in.”

Wiggins returned to the Dubs early last week after previously being away from the team since mid-February. Golden State quickly ruled him out for the remainder of the regular season, no surprise given the team's always cautious approach to player health and physical fitness—even amid the final stages of an overcrowded playoff race.

All the Warriors have to do to clinch the fifth or sixth seed in the Western Conference? Beat the Blazers' D-team in the last game of the regular season, giving Wiggins almost a full week of additional re-acclimation before the first round of the postseason tips off on April 15th.

Somehow lose to Portland, though, and there's still a chance the defending champions fall to the play-in tournament, forced back into high-stakes action in just two or three days' time.

“The idea would ideally we win the game today and have these next five or six days to prepare,” Kerr said, “which would include some scrimmaging and getting Wiggs back in the fold with everything we're doing scheme-wise and execution-wise, and he gets another week under his belt. Then we reassess from there.”

Keep those fingers crossed for a win on Sunday, Dub Nation.