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Minnesota Timberwolves’ Andrew Wiggins embracing his role as a leader

By Andrew Melnick

Aug 26, 2014; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins shows off his new jersey at Minnesota State Fair. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 26, 2014; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins shows off his new jersey at Minnesota State Fair. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Just a few months ago, rookie swingman Andrew Wiggins, the number one overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft, thought he’d be teammates with the game’s best player, Cleveland Cavaliers’ forward LeBron James. Instead, Wiggins was traded in a package with forward Anthony Bennett in a three-way trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves for power forward Kevin Love.

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Wiggins, however, doesn’t seem upset about the deal and Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders believes Wiggins is embracing his role as a leader.

"While it’s true that the Timberwolves were bad last year, and that they’ll probably be even worse this season without Kevin Love, it’s hard not to love what they got out of the summer’s highest-profile trade. Love was leaving no matter what, yet somehow Flip Saunders managed to get the last two years’ worth of #1 overall picks for him, including future superstar Andrew Wiggins. For his part, Wiggins really seems to be embracing his opportunity to lead a bad team and in fact appears to prefer it over playing a tertiary role behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. Anthony Bennett had a strong Summer League and looks much trimmer, so there’s promise there, as well, and getting Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia as part of that three-way trade was a really nice bonus. Strong move for the Wolves, all things considered. It certainly brightens their future quite a bit."

If Wiggins begins developing that instinct early, it could be a great sign for the Timberwolves in the future.

Wiggins averaged 17.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field, 34.1% from beyond the arc and 77.5% from the free throw line for the Jayhawks last season.

Be sure to check FanSided’s official NBA page to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors from around the league all summer long.

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