Andrew Wiggins had a breakout year with the Golden State Warriors. The 2014 first overall pick in the NBA Draft finally began living up to his potential, as he became an All-Star for the first time, that too as a starter.
And he has been the reliable third option for the Golden State Warriors during this playoff run. Wiggins played a big part in the Warriors reaching the NBA Finals last night after defeating the Dallas Mavericks. But one NBA analyst did not think the Warriors were smart to trade for him in 2020.
Nick Wright slammed the Warriors for trading D’Angelo Russell for Andrew Wiggins in 2020. He noted that while Russell was not a player suited for them, they traded for a worse player on an equally bad contract.
He slammed Wiggins for not being a player who could contribute to winning basketball, and then boldly claimed that Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors would never reach an NBA Finals ever again (till 4:35):
Welp. pic.twitter.com/tGzhkiiDPf
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 27, 2022
“Is there another Andrew Wiggins in the league? Is this the same guy that was the number 1 pick in the Draft, traded for Kevin Love, and has arguably the worst contract in the sport? That’s the guy? Man, we are lightyears away from the Warriors being lightyears ahead of the whole rest of the league. The hell you doing Bob Myers? The next time Stephen Curry takes the court he’s going to be 32 years old… You have 2 untradeable contracts now… Wiggins is horrifying. All the smart numbers show you he’s never been contributing factor to winning at any point in his career except for 10 games to start this season and then he went right back to being Andrew Wiggins. They traded the better player on a bad contract for a worse player on a bad contract, and they got a pick back. That needs to have gone the other way…. This is the most shocking NBA trade as far as ‘what are you thinking?’ in recent memory… Wiggins is a bad basketball player. He’s owed $95 million over the next 3 years starting next year. It’s unspeakable they did this… It’s over for them now. We will never see Steph in an NBA Finals ever. They have no path forward. Draymond is 30, Klay is 30, and Steph is about to be 32 when he takes the court again in Mid March one would assume… They have no way to get better now.”
Clearly, Wright has been proven wrong in the last year alone, as not only has Wiggins become an All-Star caliber player, but the Warriors just sealed their place in the 2022 NBA Finals. Wiggins proved to be a solid player for them and has become crucial in their team’s rotation.
The Warriors will be confident heading into the NBA Finals, as they are just a few wins away from resurrecting their dynasty. In fact, Draymond Green predicted that the Boston Celtics would reach the NBA Finals, but the Warriors would beat them in the Finals to win their 4th NBA championship in 8 years.
