Timberwolves

FAKLIS: With Wiggins Extension Complete, the Timberwolves are Ready to Play

It’s finally done.

With Wednesday’s signing of Andrew Wiggins to a 5-year, $146.5 million contract, the distractions that lingered Tom Thibodeau and the Minnesota Timberwolves have all but subsided.

An ordeal that began in the summer, Wiggins managed to sign his deal exactly a week prior to the Wolves’ season opener in San Antonio. With the Oct. 16 deadline looming, fans and media started to take notice. Even Wiggins’ teammates were looking in with intrigue.

“I think everyone was kind of waiting on that,” a smiling Tyus Jones said at Wednesday’s practice.

Still, the fear was never truly there from the inside of the organization. The edge-of-your-seat mentality was mostly an external thing, based on comments from Wiggins, Thibodeau, and some of his teammates.

“Andrew’s a very conservative guy. Very laid back, sticks in the background,” Karl-Anthony Towns told reporters at Wednesday’s practice. “For him, it didn’t matter. Money isn’t something he worries about.”

Even on the court, Wiggins’ demeanor has always been laid back, relaxed, but focused. He’s known for being able to keep his cool, even in high-pressure situations, and these negotiations only helped reinforce that.

Still, that same attitude has been an occasional source for criticism towards Wiggins on the floor. Wiggins has been called overly laid back on plays where he should be aggressive, passive on matchups where he should dominate. His head coach doesn’t see it that way.

“Sometimes you can be fooled,” said Tom Thibodeau, who sat next to Wiggins at Wednesday’s presser. “Sometimes you can have loud guys you think are fierce and they’re really not and then you have quiet guys who are fierce.”

The scoring numbers back up that claim. In three seasons, Wiggins has become one of the premier scorers in the league. He’s learned how to finish in the paint, has a great cut move towards the basket, and his improved significantly as a three-point shooter. He excels at taking his man off the dribble, and shot 41 percent from deep last year in catch-and-shoot situations. At this point, he’s a mean post game away from having a complete scoring arsenal.

Of course, Wiggins is still far from a finished product. The new contract will only bring more scrutiny his way.

“I feel like I’ve played well enough to earn [the contract] in my playing career so far,” Wiggins said. “But I still have so much to do, so much more to accomplish.”

He’s improved as a passer, especially on the drive-and-kick, but learning to become a true playmaker might be his next big test. He has more pieces around him to work with, which should make for a smoother process. His assist averages have revolved around 2 per game through his career so far; seeing that improve would be a major step in the right direction.

“The challenge isn’t just to bring the best out of himself, but also to bring the best out of all his teammates,” said Tom Thibodeau, who sat next to Wiggins at Wednesday’s presser.

The aspect of Wiggins’ game most criticized, though, is his defense. He mentioned Wednesday that his on-ball defense is solid, but he still needs to work on his off-ball and team defense to become a two-way player.

He’s on to something there. Last season, he finished dead last in defensive real plus-minus for small forwards, per ESPN.com. He was often found lost on screens, and struggled sticking to his man when they were on the move.

Adding Jimmy Butler will help Wiggins in several aspects, but defense might be the most helpful for the youngster. In the past three seasons, Wiggins has always been tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best offensive player. With Butler now on the roster, that duty will no longer fall on Wiggins.

Butler, a solidified two-way player, will also demand plenty of attention on offense. This will give Wiggins an opportunity to play off of a pair of stars – Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns – for the first time in his career.

“I think when you have a team like we have, everyone has to sacrifice and put the team first,” Thibodeau said. “I think this process for Andrew has been a good one, and we felt good about it right from the start.”

Criticisms will always be there, though some are more reasonable than others. From a FiveThirtyEight article that compared him to role player James Posey, to other articles straight up calling him a draft bust, he’s heard extreme critiques of his game his entire playing career. While criticism is part of basketball media in general, and some of it has true and reasonable merit, Wiggins has been able to weed out anything and everything.

“You hear it sometimes, but it just goes in one ear and out the other,” Wiggins said. “It’s not really a big deal to me.”

Going forward, though, getting the deal done means the Wolves are more or less done with the offseason. With the regular season less than a week away, all that’s left to focus on is basketball, and Wiggins and Thibodeau wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We’re both here for one reason, and that’s to win,” Wiggins said. “Win a championship. That’s our main goal.”


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