During the Golden State Warriors’ rumor-laden offseason, one potential chip that many NBA observers had leaving the Bay Area was forward Andrew Wiggins. He’s still on the Warriors — for now, at least — but how much value does he have in The Association?
According to a meticulous list of NBA players compiled by Seth Partnow of The Athletic, Wiggins sneaks just inside the top-125 players in the league. He lands in the “Tier 5″category, with the likes of Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Bulls G Andrew Caruso, among many other recognizable names.
Partnow writes a mini encyclopedia explaining his results, but to be honest, it’s unclear to me from the article if Wiggins is No. 81 or No. 124. But I believe that Partnow simply separates players into tiers rather than ranking them by number. (Though the title of the article includes the word “ranked.”)
Regardless, this is representative of Wiggins’ place on Golden State’s roster. He’s not a superstar, despite being selected No. 1 in the NBA Draft in 2014. But he’s emerged as a supreme role player, which is just what the Warriors need to supplement the play of G Stephen Curry, G Klay Thompson and F Draymond Green.
That’s why I never anticipated Wiggins would leave the Bay Area. He can score and play defense at a high level, and he was low maintenance over the course of last season. The Warriors front office acquired Wiggins to play alongside Thompson, and with Klay’s return, they’ll finally get what they want in 2021-22; and they certainly hope that leads to their ultimate desire next season, an NBA championship.
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