Andrew Wiggins’ temperament: Conundrum or catalyst?

What’s the cause?

The origin of this statistical regression is not something that took Timberwolves’ loyalists by surprise. The arrival of Jimmy Butler, a player who overlaps with many of Wiggins strengths as a ball dominant wing player who prefers to work in the mid-range and draw fouls, was discernibly going to cut into Wigs touches, and in turn, number output.

Wiggins’ usage rate (the total percentage plays that a player is used when he is on the floor) in 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons was 26.9 and 28.8 percent, respectively. This season, that number has plummeted to 23.2 percent. That is a fairly substantial drop-off for a player who has become accustomed to having the luxury of dominating an offense and shooting himself out of slumps.

However, this season that luxury has been taken away from him. Instead of controlling the ball and getting a feel for the game in the way he has grown comfortable in the NBA, this year he has been asked to grow his game in order to adapt and allow an elite-level player in Jimmy Butler to come in and dominate the ball.

Add this to the fact that his former pass-first point guard and passing savant Ricky Rubio isn’t there to consistently find him easy scoring opportunities and has instead been replaced with another ball dominant player in Jeff Teague, and one can start to understand why there have been so many bumps in the road so far.