The Golden State Warriors are tinkering with their new core piece, Andrew Wiggins, shortly after exiling D'Angelo Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves hours before the trade deadline last week.
Considering Wiggins will play a complementary role to the All-Star duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Warriors coaches are already masterminding ways to incorporate him into their system, mimicking what Wiggins will soon experience once Curry returns from a broken left hand injury.
“We’re having more fun,” one coach told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “The puzzle now fits.”
Wiggins has only been with the team for less than a week. The Warriors have lost all three of their games with him in the lineup, yet Golden State is already turning the screws to see how he fits in the offense while testing the lengths of his defensive capabilities as a 6-foot-7 wing.
“We’ve been able to plug him in on the opponent’s best player,” said head coach Steve Kerr. “That alone just allows us to set up our defense better. Because of his size and length, you can put him on the opponent’s best guy and match up from there.”
It might be a small sample, but in the three games Wiggins has suited up in Warriors garb, he has already learned the type of efficiency that's expected of him.
He's shooting 10-of-20 at the rim, 2-of-5 from mid-range, and 8-of-15 from deep, per Slater, mirroring the same type of shot selection the Warriors prefer out of their wings.
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