Andrew Wiggins isn’t wrong to be upset with his role

Andrew Wiggins reportedly been whispering to teammates that he isn’t happy with his current role as the Timberwolves’ third fiddle. If true, he isn’t wrong to be upset…

It was reported on Wednesday that Andrew Wiggins has talked to some of his teammates regarding being upset with his current role on the team. The addition of Jimmy Butler has pushed Wiggins to now become the third option on the team.

Wiggins not filling up the stat sheet or even being a good shooter has caused people to overreact and view him as a bad player. Yes, he does look lazy at times but a lot of that is due to his quiet nature. Because someone isn’t vocal like Karl-Anthony Towns, it does not mean that he’s a bad player.

(Personally, I believe that part of him being upset could be due to his relationship with Butler. There’s been nothing that has officially surfaced about the two, of course, but it does feel as though if Zach LaVine was still here, Wiggins being the third option at times would not bug him as much. But that’s purely my take.)

The addition of Butler — or even Jeff Teague, for that matter — has caused Wiggins’ stats to decrease. Ricky Rubio was always a pass-first point guard who got the ball out of his hands right away while Teague likes to score the ball and hold the ball till the shot clock reaches the point where there’s little time remaining.

Wiggins leads the team in field goals attempted, but what that doesn’t tell you is how much he’s being used when he gets the ball deep into the shot clock. Plus, the injuries to Teague and Butler throughout the season has played a role in that.

Wiggins’ usage rate according to NBA.com is third on the team with 23.6 percent. Jamal Crawford and Butler are above him, but that’s because Crawford gets the majority of the touches on the second unit.

We know how much Tom Thibodeau adores his former players and because of that, it has pushed away the ability to get others involved or even decreasing the teams winning chances. Take Gorgui Dieng for example, last season he was a starter and looked like a solid player that could start or come off the bench. Don’t get me wrong, I love the addition of Taj Gibson, but Thibs has ultimately taken away Dieng’s confidence through decreasing his minutes and that has caused his game to suffer.

A lot of the plays that Butler gets this year were the plays that he was using for Wiggins in the past. Butler is a great offensive player, but to essentially remove Wiggins plays from him after averaging 23 points per game in his third season seems a little demeaning.

We know that Wiggins strong suit is certainly not his ability to shoot it from three, but this season Thibs basically has moved him to the corner where he has to watch each offensive drive without touching the ball, being used in the plays or even getting the ball with little time remaining.

Check out the play at the 3:24 mark:

These highlights show you how Minnesota is using Wiggins this season. His strong suit is being active, cutting and having the ball in his hands. So, why is it that they’re throwing him in the corner and removing him from the offense? That’s the same thing they started to do with Rubio last season.

Wiggins came to Minnesota as the No.1 overall pick and was deemed as one of the franchise players. He’s always been the teams top or second option since he’s entered the league as well. He’s improved each season and the reason his numbers are down are again, because of the additions and play calling styles they’ve given him.

Last year, he averaged around 23 points per game and he was a 21 and 22-year-old during the season. For anyone saying that he’s a bust because his numbers are down or that he isn’t as good anymore, then they need to watch the games instead of going off of the national narrative or looking at the stats because they don’t tell the full story.

His defense and aggressiveness have improved a lot this season, and to suggest that he hasn’t gotten better on the defensive end is ludicrous. When Butler’s out, he seems to explode on both ends.

This play from the other night against the Washington Wizards sums up nicely just how much he is starting to affect the game on both ends of the floor.

Wiggins has a right to be upset on being the third option. He wasn’t brought in here to be sitting in the corner and have all of his plays removed from him. He should be used in the offense a lot more because of his freakish talents.

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He’s still just 23 years old and will likely become the team’s focal point again in the next few years. But until then, Minnesota needs to find ways to keep him here and call more plays for him.