Andrew Wiggins continues to reach new heights.
Following the best regular season of his career, Wiggins helped the Warriors reach the Finals for the sixth time in eight seasons. Stephen Curry (23.8) was the only Warrior to average more points than him (18.6) in the Western Conference Finals, and Wiggins ranked second on the team with 7.2 rebounds per game.
While Luka Doncic had himself a big series, Wiggins and the Warriors held the three-time All-Star to an uncharacteristic 41.5 percent shooting from the field.
For the Warriors to defeat the Celtics in the Finals to raise banner No. 7, they'll need Wiggins to continue making an impact on both ends of the court.
Does that make Wiggins the biggest X-Factor in the Finals? Has the way he's played this season helped him live up to the status of being a No. 1 pick? And what would winning the title do for his legacy?
TSN's Scott Rafferty and Carlan Gay discuss.
Has Andrew Wiggins lived up to his status as a No. 1 overall pick?
Scott Rafferty (@crabdribbles): Wiggins was the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. While he hasn't had the most traditional path of a No. 1 overall pick, he was named an All-Star this season and has played a leading role in Golden State's run to the NBA Finals.
Wiggins has obviously proven himself to be an incredibly valuable player, but has he lived up to the hype of being the first pick in the draft?
Carlan Gay (@TheCarlanGay): I think the honest answer is we don't know yet.
Wiggins is 27 years old, around the age most people enter their basketball primes. He's now in a perfect situation in Golden State that has allowed him to get closer to his ceiling than the situation he was in with the Timberwolves. He's always been a better player than the narratives would suggest, but the fact of the matter is he went No. 1 overall and when you go No. 1 — which, by the way, isn't your fault — there's an expectation that you take the franchise by storm and transform them into perennial contenders.
You can go through the list of No. 1 overall picks and see a lot of players who haven't even come close to what Wiggins has accomplished in his career, but when you go No. 1, you get compared to the franchise-changing picks, not the field. I think the No. 1 pick in each year should be compared to who got picked in their respective drafts, not history. If we were doing that all along with Wiggins, we'd see that two players would have been taken ahead of him in his draft: Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic.
The rest of the draft is up for debate — maybe there were times you'd want Julius Randle over Wiggins, or Zach LaVine — but right now, not many would take either over him.
The other thing is circumstance. Most No. 1 picks end up in bad situations. Minnesota hasn't exactly been a model franchise. (The Timberwolves have made one Conference Finals in their 30-plus year existence.) Was Wiggins supposed to help them turn things around? Sure, but let's not forget that he wasn't even their pick. He was acquired via trade when LeBron decided he wanted Kevin Love on his team.
Could Wiggins have been a better, more productive player at times in Minnesota? Absolutely, but the franchise could also have given him a better situation to succeed in. For me, the jury is still out on Wiggins' career, and should he remain in Golden State for the rest of it the narrative will be a lot more positive than what it was at different points in his NBA tenure.
MORE: Ranking top 15 players in 2022 NBA Finals
Rafferty: Wow, usually I'm the one who sits on the fence during debates...
I'm with you in a lot of ways, but I do think it's fair to say that Wiggins has become a very good basketball player while also acknowledging that this isn't the player many thought he'd be. I mean, go back and read some of the draft stuff on him. He was being compared to all-timers like Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Clyde Drexler. And, of course, he was once famously called "Maple Jordan."
To your point, it's not like he'd fall out of the lottery in a redraft — he'd likely be a top-five pick at worst — but he's clearly in a different stratosphere from Jokic and Embiid.
Gay: It is very fair, no doubt, but he didn't make those claims. He didn't come into the league saying he was Maple Jordan. In fact, he did everything he could to shy away from that nickname. He hates it.
We do this thing in the media where we expect someone to be one thing and when it doesn't happen blame that person because we were wrong about them. It's never us who got it wrong, it's shame on them for making me look bad. That's the game, I get it.
I also want to be clear, though: I was in the camp of expecting more from Wiggins, but we went too far the other way. We had folks calling him a bad basketball player. Do you know how many players in the NBA fail to average 20 points per game for a single season, let alone their careers? We can be critical, but we got in the range of disrespect, in my opinion, on Wiggins.
But I'll always maintain this, we should stop comparing No. 1 overall picks to history. They should be compared to who is in their draft. If Wiggins had gone No. 2 behind Jabari Parker and both of them had had the exact same career, the discourse around Wiggins would be completely different, even with the pre-draft hype.
Rafferty: I totally agree with you! The discourse with him did go too far, but it doesn't change the fact that he was widely considered to be the best prospect in his draft. Even so, nobody has ever questioned his talent and credit to him for adapting his game to set himself up for success in Golden State.
Gay: He wasn't, Jabari Parker had a ton of support going into the draft.
Rafferty: Sure, so did Embiid, but it was pretty clear that Wiggins was going to go No. 1 leading into the draft.
Gay: It wasn't, but we can do this all day. Parker and Wiggins flip-flopped over the No. 1 spot in high school, through college and then heading into the draft. It's clear now in hindsight, but being there on the night, believe me when I tell you it wasn't a lock that Wiggins would go No. 1. And believe me when I tell you the Bucks probably weren't too upset that Parker landed right in their laps at No. 2.
But you're right, I don't think many NBA players forget No. 1 picks would come into Golden State with the attitude that Wiggins has. I will say, though, the Warriors kind of force you to be unselfish because their best players have no ego. They're all about winning.
Rafferty: They do, but not everyone is willing to play that way. It does take buy-in.
Also, last thing I'll say about whether or not Wiggins was going to be the No. 1 pick, just go back and look at the mock drafts from June of 2014...
Is Andrew Wiggins the biggest X-Factor in 2022 NBA Finals?
Rafferty: Alright, now that we've hopped in the time machine and argued far too long about whether or not Wiggins was projected to be the No. 1 pick back in 2014, let's talk about the Finals.
Do you think Wiggins is the biggest X-factor in the series or is it someone else?
Gay: I don't think he's the X-Factor, but I do think he has to play at the level he has been in the playoffs to give the Warriors a chance.
With Wiggins on the floor in the playoffs, the Dubs have a net rating of 10.2. When he sits, that number falls to -6.0. We know how important his defense will be, but I'm going to continue harping on his offense. It can't be all Stephen Curry, the Warriors will need secondary scoring consistently from Wiggins if they're going to win the series.
So while I don't think he's the X-Factor, he will have to be a factor if Golden State is going to hoist the LOB.
Jordan Poole is my X-Factor just as an FYI.
Rafferty: Interesting. I do think Wiggins is the biggest X-factor on the Warriors. We know the Celtics are going to be locked in on Curry and Klay Thompson, so they're going to need Wiggins to not only knock down open shots but make the occasional play to take some pressure off of the Splash Brothers.
Defensively, Wiggins is probably going to be tasked with chasing Jayson Tatum around. If he can give the Warriors a punch offensively while limiting Tatum, I think it could shift the series in Golden State's favor.
MORE: How key injuries surprisingly helped extend Warriors' dynasty
Gay: Yeah, I think his defense on Tatum goes without saying. The Dubs don't win if Tatum is just having his way on offense, so I'm more interested in what he does offensively.
Without going too deep into an Xs and Os rabbit hole, the Poole angle is he really struggles defensively. He was able to get away with that so far in each of the three previous series because the focus defensively was on stopping one guy — Jokic, Ja Morant, Luka Doncic — so when Poole was hunted, there was help available to him because you can leave the others that were around those stars and feel OK if they beat you. I don't think you can do that with Boston.
If Poole ends up on Tatum, can you afford to leave Brown, Smart, Horford or Williams? Can you afford to let those four play 4-on-3? Poole might not be able to play in this series, which is why I think Kerr played so much of Moody and Kuminga in the West Final.
Rafferty: I've seen a lot of that mentioned with Poole, but, like, that was the concern going into the Western Conference Finals, right? The Celtics and Mavericks are different teams, but I do think the Warriors do a better job than most at hiding weaker defenders and make teams work hard for switches. Poole is absolutely a factor for the Warriors, but I think Wiggins is the X-Factor because of how important of a role he'll play on both ends.
Gay: The Mavs, Grizzlies and Nuggets don't have the weapons offensively that the Celtics have. That's why they're at home and the Warriors are here. This is the first team in the playoffs Golden State will play that has more than one capable offensive option. I mean no disrespect to the aforementioned Warriors' opponents but none of them have a Jaylen Brown as a No. 2 option or a Marcus Smart and Al Horford as a No. 3 and 4.
Rafferty: Sure, but Luka Doncic is one of the best mismatch hunters in the league. I have faith that Steve Kerr will figure out ways to cover Poole as much as possible.
Gay: Figuring out how to guard one elite player is a lot easier than figuring out how to stop two in Tatum and Brown.
MORE: Which teams passed on Curry in 2009 NBA Draft?
What will a championship do for Andrew Wiggins' legacy?
Rafferty: Enough about Poole. This is a Wiggins chat. We've touched on his legacy already, but how do you think the Warriors winning it all this season would change the way we talk about him?
Gay: Of course! It has to. He’ll have a ring.
There is a small percentage of players who have played the game and have a ring to show for it. The guy Wiggins probably grew up wanting to be, Vince Carter, never even played in a Finals game. Playing in the Finals is a basketball privilege. Winning a championship is a basketball dream. It defines you as a player. You’re a winner as a champion.
If the Dubs are going to pull this off, Wiggins isn’t going to be a passenger on this journey. He’ll have to play to his level for it to get done. It will absolutely define his legacy.
Rafferty: It's wild how quickly things change in the NBA. It wasn't long ago that Wiggins was labeled a "good stats, bad team" type of player. He averaged the second-fewest points of his career this season, and yet he's turned himself into the type of role player every team is looking for. His shot selection has improved, he's become much more efficient as a scorer and he's living up to his defensive potential.
You know what's going to be fascinating? Wiggins is extension eligible this offseason. It's not going to be cheap to keep him and the Warriors probably can't afford to let him walk as a free agent at the end of next season, right?
The answer to that probably depends on how quickly Moody and Kuminga develop in the coming months, but whether his future is in Golden State or not, Wiggins is setting himself up for another big payday with the way he's played this season.
Gay: I'll say this... and this is the Canadian in me speaking. If the Warriors get it done and Andrew Wiggins is an NBA champion, it opens the door for him to think about coming back home to be a Raptor.
