Minnesota Timberwolves: Mid-season report card

Andrew Wiggins: B-

Andrew Wiggins is the member of the Big Three who’s had the biggest adjustment to make this season.

He’s gone from being option 1B to being a clear third option on this team. That’s taken a long time for Wiggins to get used to and he’s still not fully there. I’m willing to be patient with Wiggins because that’s an adjustment not many people can make, especially in a few short months.

His numbers are also down across the board, for previously stated reasons, as he’s averaging 17.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. His shooting numbers are also down, as he’s shooting 42.8 percent from the field (a career-low) and 32.8 percent from downtown.

In order for those percentages to come up, I’d love to see Wiggins cut to the basket more. There are way too many times where he’s watching the ball on the three-point line instead of making something happen for his teammates.

He can also work on improving his spot-up shooting, as that seems to be what his role will be in the future. Although that’s more of a trait he can work on in the offseason, it would be nice to see him begin to adopt that mindset now.

Wiggins defense has possibly seen the most improvement of any part of his game. Although he still has a long way to go, he’s shown a willingness to play on that end of the court.

He possesses all the athletic ability and lateral quickness to become a top-notch defender, but once again, I’m not sure about his mindset.

When he’s in his stance and ready to go, which is seldom, it’s extremely difficult for opponents to get past him off the dribble. But he needs to continue improving his engagement on defense, especially off-ball.