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After nine seasons spent trying to reach the potential of his first overall pick, Golden State Warriors wing Andrew Wiggins put together the most complete season of his career in 2021-22.
Unfortunately, due to the team’s pending cap mess, it could also be his final act with the team. A Warriors insider predicted that the team may be forced to part ways with Wiggins in the coming offseason in order to keep the rest of the team’s core intact — or as much of it as possible.
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Warriors’ Cap Mess
In a mailbag, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Connor Letourneau was asked if there is any way the team can keep this year’s core together — Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II. While he expected Looney to return on a new multi-year contract worth close to $6 million and Poole to sign a four-year, $100 million extension, Letourneau was doubtful that all the rest of the rotation would be intact.
The most likely outcome for the Warriors would be parting ways with Wiggins and the $33.36 million he’ll be due next season, even though Wiggins just earned his first career All-Star bid this season.
“As I’ve written before, the most logical way for the Warriors to cut salary is to trade Wiggins before he hits unrestricted free agency in summer 2023,” he wrote.
Even if the Warriors do part ways with Wiggins, Letourneau wrote that they still wouldn’t be able to afford both Porter and Payton, who have both played beyond expectations and are likely priced out of the Warriors’ very limited budget.
One Last Run for Wiggins?
If this is the last run with the Warriors for Wiggins, it will be a very important final stretch for the Canadian baller. He has been a key two-way player for Golden State in the playoff run, and in the Western Conference Finals has drawn the assignment to guard Luka Doncic. As Eric He of NBC Sports Bay Area noted, Wiggins did well in Game 1, keeping the Dallas Mavericks guard to 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Wiggins did better as the game went on, helping hold Doncic to just two second-half points.
The performance earned some praise from Curry, who noted that the team is calling on Wiggins to be sharp on both ends of the floor.
“He’s just showing everybody what he’s capable of in terms of impacting winning,” Curry said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “We’re asking him to take on that challenge [of guarding Dončić] and be aggressive offensively.”
Parting with Wiggins would likely be a difficult decision for the Warriors, as he is highly valued within the organization. The team’s player development coach, Bruce Fraser, said in an interview on 95.7 The Game that the 27-year-old has brought a competitive fire to this season.
“He’s got a quiet demeanor,” Fraser said. “But he’s more competitive than you think. It’s hard to play at this level, honestly, if you don’t have a competitive spirit.
“The knock on [Wiggins] is he’s always been so talented that he just is successful on his talent. But what you don’t see in him is an internal fire that burns. He’s competitive. He wants to win.”
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