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Andrew Wiggins cracks SI.com’s ranking of top-50 NBA players

By Ben Beecken

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 03: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves smiles during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 3, 2017. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 03: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves smiles during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 3, 2017. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SI.com’s The Crossover released the second part of their Top-100 NBA Players ranking series, and the Timberwolves’ Andrew Wiggins makes an appearance in the #31-50 range.

We broke down Part One of SI.com’s Top-100 NBA Players series earlier this week, which included new Timberwolves players Taj Gibson at #95 and Jeff Teague at #55. Also of note from Monday: Teague out-ranked his predecessor, Ricky Rubio, who came in at #61.

On Tuesday, SI.com released Part Two on The Crossover, which ranked players #31-50. And one of the Wolves’ young, rising stars climbed into the top-50 — by the slimmest of margins, no less.

Indeed Andrew Wiggins was ranked #50, which feels about right. Remember: this list is “an exhaustive exercise that seeks to define who will be the league’s best players in the 2017-18 season” (emphasis added), not a ranking of the best players from 2016-17. After all, Wiggins was generally bad on defense and still has obvious shortcomings on the offensive end of the floor as well.

Here’s an excerpt of what SI.com’s Ben Golliver said about Wiggins’ ranking:

"An athletic and occasionally mesmerizing volume scorer who couples an attacking style with improved three-point range, the 22-year-old Wiggins confidently campaigned for a max rookie extension this summer despite mediocre rebounding numbers and inconsistent defense.…Wiggins’s defenders counter with two convincing arguments: 1) He led the league in minutes played last year and his shaky advanced stats are evidence that he was simply stretched too thin, and 2) He’s yet to have enough veteran talent and structure around him to accurately judge his individual progress."

Golliver adeptly points to lack of rebounding (although neglects to mention the lack of playmaking, which, in my opinion, is every bit as big of an issue as rebounding rate considering how often Wiggins has the ball in his hands) and defense as the biggest issues with Wiggins, but fairly notes that heavy minutes and lack of veteran talent around him — not to mention three head coaches in three years — could very well be what is holding him back.

For someone who has been consistently (and fairly) critical of Wiggins, I think that he is absolutely a borderline top-50 player based on what he could be this season. The most likely scenario is that shot attempts and raw scoring numbers decrease due to the influx of talent around him, but that his overall play improves. If he continues to improve from beyond the arc and learns to make the extra pass when needed, he could be a legitimate third star next to Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Next: How will Timberwolves' pick-and-roll change with Teague?

Butler and Towns, for their part, will be in The Crossover’s top-30 players. We’ll post our commentary on their rankings and corresponding write-ups as they go live.

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