DENVER — The Warriors are on the brink of returning a vital piece from last year’s title team, as they seek a jolt to kickstart a hopeful playoff run.
Andrew Wiggins, who has been away from the team for nearly seven weeks, is expected to rejoin the Warriors early this week, league sources confirmed Monday. ESPN initially reported Monday morning on Wiggins’ pending return.
Wiggins has missed the last 22 games to tend to an undisclosed family matter. Wiggins had recently returned to the Bay Area after spending most of this time elsewhere. He has been conditioning on his own, coach Steve Kerr recently said, but the team will assess his game-readiness once he returns to Chase Center.
It is unclear if Wiggins will play in any of the Warriors’ three remaining regular-season games, given how many games and practices he has missed. They play at home Tuesday against the Thunder, then visit Sacramento on Friday night before closing the season Sunday in Portland. Wiggins is expected to attend the home finale Tuesday night.
Golden State has gone 12-10 in Wiggins’ absence. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Monday that Wiggins’ father Mitchell has been dealing with a “serious medical situation”.
Steph Curry reiterated last week that the team would love to have Wiggins back whenever he was ready: “When he walks in the door, it’ll be when it’s the right time for him.”
The Warriors (41-38) squandered an early 15-point lead in a road loss to the Nuggets on Sunday. They currently sit sixth in the Western Conference standings, a half-game ahead of the play-in tournament. But they are on unsteady ground as the teams near them in the standings — the Clippers, Lakers, Pelicans and Timberwolves — own head-to-head tiebreakers over Golden State.
Donte DiVincenzo stepped into the starting lineup during Wiggins’ absence as Klay Thompson moved up one spot from shooting guard to small forward.
“When he comes back, everybody’s energy and spirit level will raise just because he’s going to have a big smile on his face when he walks into the door,” DiVincenzo said last month.
Wiggins was arguably the Warriors’ second-best player during the 2022 playoffs, averaging 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while taking the top wing assignment defensively. He was Golden State’s top scorer in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, pouring in 26 points just one game after recording a career-high 16 rebounds in the tide-turning Game 4 in Boston.
