All things considered, the Warriors are off to a really solid start over the first two weeks of the NBA season. Entering Nov. 6, Golden State has the fourth-best record in the league and a top-10 offense. Chris Paul has integrated himself nicely, the bench units are playing well without Stephen Curry and young players such as Moses Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis have had some nice moments.
So with the preface that I am not at all worried about this team—and perhaps even bullish on their prospects—I am, however, keeping my eye on what’s up with Andrew Wiggins.
Ever since putting together perhaps the finest stretch of his career during the team’s 2022 title run, things have been a little up and down for Wiggins. He played only 37 games last year (largely due to a personal matter) and never quite seemed to fully recapture his form. Through the first seven games of this season, Wiggins is averaging what would be career lows in points, rebounds, assists, three-point percentage, free throw percentage and minutes—you know, a lot of the things that make up a basketball player.
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Now look, not only is this a wildly small sample size, but you also can’t put this all on Wiggins. Steve Kerr is in charge of his minutes, and guys like Gary Payton II, Jonathan Kuminga and Moody have also earned time on the wing. And a couple of early-season injuries have added a dash of funkiness to the rotation.
Still, we haven’t quite seen 2022 Wiggins, who played with much more of an attack mindset. I watched many of those games in person, and saw Wiggins gobble up rebounds, guard elite perimeter scorers and generate enough of his own offense to keep defenders on their toes. Remember the admittedly silly Finals MVP talk? Well it was a not-laughed-out-of-the-room conversation for a reason. We haven’t really seen that dude this season.
Wiggins’s catch-and-shoot numbers are way down, as is his pull-up shooting from two, compared to last season and the 2022 playoffs. And while he can still finish inside the paint, he’s getting there less often than he normally does.
Of course, Wiggins doesn’t really have to be that guy before Christmas, let alone the playoffs. This is a veteran team, and peaking at the right time is more important than coming out of the gate super hot. Kerr downplayed any concerns after the Warriors’ loss to the Cavaliers on Sunday.
“It’s been a little bit of a slow start, but the defense is the key,” Kerr said. “His defense is always so important for us, and the better he is defensively the more his offense will come. Not worried about Wiggs at all, it’s just a slow start and he’s got a long track record.”
I am interested to see, though, how the Warriors ultimately construct their end-of-game lineups. While the start of the season has been good, there’s still a little mystery surrounding the best end-of-game units.
Steph, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are locks. Paul will want to close. GP2 can add defense. Moody plays with fearlessness. Kuminga can add size and athleticism. Wiggins can theoretically add all of those things, it just hasn’t been all there yet. (The lineup data is still too small to draw any conclusions, but for what it’s worth, Paul and GP2 seem to have a leg up in fourth quarters for now.)
Golden State has plenty of time between now and when it really, really matters (sorry, in-season tournament), so there’s no need to panic. This team has another level to go to, though. And getting back the Wiggins who helped them raise a trophy could possibly supercharge what’s already been an encouraging start for the Dubs.
