Timberwolves Roundup: Glen Taylor on Wiggins’ contract situation

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has gone on the record with some comments regarding Andrew Wiggins‘ contract situation and the possibility that he could receive a maximum deal.

This is the off-season that the Timberwolves will have to make a decision regarding a max-contract for soon-to-be fourth-year wing Andrew Wiggins.

To this date, Wiggins has been far from a contributor that would normally be considered a “max-player”; while the 20.4 points per game career average (not to mention the 23.6 point-per-game average as a 21-year-old) is gaudy, the defensive production and offensive efficiency has been sorely lacking.

Brian Sampson and I discussed the prospect of maxing Wiggins on the most recent edition of the Dunking With Wolves Podcast, and the consensus was more or less that despite the actual production not equaling what would normally be required of a max contract, the potential of Wiggins and the idea of building around him along with Karl-Anthony Towns and now Jimmy Butler is enough to warrant the Wolves handing out such a deal.

Wiggins is painfully young, and it’s easy to forget that. I’ve watched more than 95 percent of the Wolves games over his three-year career and still had my mind boggled when I pulled up his Basketball-Reference.com page and was reminded that he’s just coming off of his age-21 season.

The efficiency issues are one thing; Wiggins can make tough shots, get to the rim, and get to the free throw line, and it simply feels like he needs to play in the right scheme and with the right players to help him get better shots. The passing, rebounding, and defense are more concerning.

A player with the size and athleticism of Wiggins should not have a career rebound rate of just 6.5 percent. Similarly, a lack of assists suggest problems with awareness and understanding the flow of the offense. Defensive issues are more a combination of fitting within the team’s scheme, effort, and consistently drawing difficult assignments as a 21-year-old.

There’s certainly still a world of promise — Jimmy Butler wasn’t a star all of a sudden in his first couple of seasons, either. And Wolves owner Glen Taylor has already come out and said that the Wolves are working on signing Wiggins to the maximum contract.

Interestingly, Taylor has also listed Wiggins as “kind of untouchable”. This would suggest that Wiggins has not yet been included in the Timberwolves’ offer that they’ve reportedly already made to the Cleveland for the unhappy Kyrie Irving.

It isn’t crazy to think that Taylor has sapped some leverage from the front office with some of his comments, but the Minnesotan and longtime Wolves owner tends to speak his mind. Of course, Taylor reportedly didn’t want to trade Ricky Rubio, either, and that ended up happening, so it’s plausible that Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden could talk him into a Wiggins trade if it brings back a true superstar.

Next: Andrew Wiggins' Unique Path To A Potential Max Contract

This will be a situation to keep an eye on, as there is no major rush to ink Wiggins’ contract but the Irving rumors and trade talks will be ongoing over the next few months.