Rise of Andrew Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins is a player that does not receive much attention around the league. With people so focused on the Timberwolves as a team and all the talk surrounding Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins sometimes gets a back seat. There is no doubt that Wiggins is part of the blossoming big three in Minnesota, but clearly Karl-Anthony Towns is their best player. Also with a sub par record of 4-7 the media does not talk much about the Timberwolves. The Wolves and the 76ers are teams of the future and are expected to have a couple more years of growing pains before reaching the playoffs. The media will focus more on elite teams that have proven themselves contenders. With Minnesota in a smaller market and not contending they will not receive much coverage.

For all the reasons above this is why Wiggins is not receiving the attention he deserves. It was expected that Wiggins would soon become one of the top players in this league. He was the number 1 draft pick in 2014 and he won the 2014-15 rookie of the year. And with a jump from 16.9 points per game his rookie season to 20.7 his second season it was obvious that he is on an upward trend. But this year he has taken an even bigger leap early on. 

 Andrew Wiggins put up 35 points against the Philadelphia 76ers last night. It is his sixth straight game with 20 or more points. During that span he had a 47 point game against the Los Angles Lakers. His 27.7 points per game ranks him 8th in the league behind DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. That is some pretty good company to be with. Not only has he improved his scoring average, but he has also improved his field goal percentage and three point percentage from a year ago. This could be the year that we see Wiggins transform into an elite player or at least an elite scorer. Considering there are 71 games left for the Timberwolves and the fact that only 5 of their 11 games were against winning teams, it is still too early to tell.