Andrew Wiggins has the potential to be the perfect fit for the new-look Minnesota Timberwolves. He has an introverted personality, avoiding the spotlight despite his preternatural ability. He has been a reliable scorer ever since he entered the NBA. And he has a lot of defensive upside that should manifest itself now that he’s had the same coach for a second year in a row for the first time in his three years in the league.
Kyrie Irving is an NBA champion. He’s one of the best pure scorers in the league, and he wants to prove that he’s capable of being a franchise player and carry a team without LeBron James as a teammate. And he wants come to Minnesota, but the Wolves would have to give up Wiggins to get him.
Wiggins will never be the franchise player in Minnesota. Karl-Anthony Towns is considered a generational player with a personality that late-night hosts have already capitalized on, and he fits the mold of the modern big man that can score inside and knock down three-point shots. Jimmy Butler may take the crown as the alpha male in the room, however, given that he’s a Tom Thibodeau disciple with an assertive approach to basketball and an ability to close out games as the go-to score.
Towns and Wiggins will never have a Kevin Garnett-Stephon Marbury squabble
How the Butler-Towns dynamic plays out in years to come will be interesting, but it’s safe to say that Towns and Wiggins will never have a Kevin Garnett-Stephon Marbury squabble that cost the Wolves of yesteryear an opportunity to be a perennial contender. Garnett revolutionized how basketball was played and signed a six-year, $126 million contract that changed NBA economics long before the nine-year, $24 billion Turner-ESPN deal which upended the salary cap today. Marbury decided that he didn’t want to play with him.
Irving has some Marbury in him. He has made it clear he wants to be the biggest star on any team he plays on, and he won’t be so long as Towns is in Minnesota.
LeBron James is the best player in basketball today, vaulted himself into the national consciousness with his decision to leave his hometown for Miami and then returned to bring a championship to a city that routinely broke the heart of sports fans in Northeast Ohio. Irving has asked the Cleveland Cavaliers to deal him with two years left on his contract.
If Irving doesn’t want to play with James, what’s to say he’ll want to share the spotlight with Towns or Butler? He listed Minnesota as one of four teams he wanted to join — placing them in the same sentence with two of the best teams in the West, the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs, as well as his hometown New York Knicks — which is the only reason why this conversation is even taking place.
There are people who feel that any time an organization can get a player of Irving’s caliber, and he’s a Top 5 point guard in the league, they should get him and deal with the fallout later. But Irving is a poor defensive player, and at 25 is unlikely to change his game, even under Thibodeau.
Wiggins is in a position to succeed with the revamped Wolves
Wiggins, 22, is an unfinished product who has untapped potential as a wing stopper. Now that he has spent a year in Thibodeau’s system, and has teammates in Butler and Taj Gibson who played under Thibodeau and will push him to become a two-way player, his defense should improve dramatically. He also will no longer be expected to carry the offense as the dominant scoring wing and could focus more of his effort on the other side of the court.
In short, Wiggins is in a position to succeed with the revamped Wolves, whereas Irving could be its undoing. Thibodeau suffered through a 31-win season last year, cleaned house and built the Wolves in his image. The result has been an incredible amount of hype both locally and nationally. Minnesota, safe to say, is trending upwards and expected to be playoff team for the first time in 13 years. If Irving becomes ornery, one bad transaction could undo all of Thibodeau’s work.
There is also the matter of salaries. Wiggins is about to sign a six-year, $150 million deal, assuming his meeting with team owner Glen Taylor goes well. Irving has only two years left on his deal and will command more than that if Minnesota wants to retain him. On top of that, Towns will command a max contract next season and Butler’s deal is up in two years, and he’ll want as much money, or more, as Irving gets.
Taylor eventually will have pay the luxury tax if the Wolves are going to turn themselves into contenders in the near future. But it’s fair for him to ask them to make the playoffs first. Minnesota can make the postseason this year with Wiggins on the roster, and with six years of player control, it opens a large window of contention.
Wiggins is a talented superstar who wants to operate in the shadows. He’s a proven scorer with defensive upside. He’s a better fit than Irving is for the Wolves right now.
