Andrew Wiggins

[Fuggles]

I think I've seen the term "straw man" referenced more times in this thread than I have ever before.

If it was used accurately you shouldn't care.

 

[hoops23]

If it was used accurately you shouldn't care.

Who said I cared?

 

[hoops23]

Still pretty crazy that we drafted this kid and traded him.

Regardless of your perspective on his ability, if you were told 4 months ago we would draft Wiggins and trade him, you wouldn't have even considered the possibility. I know I wouldn't.

Eh.. There were rumors about us trading him as soon as we picked him. So much so, they had to come out and say the pick wouldn't be traded. I do think Wiggins is going to be a very solid piece, but I'm not so sure he's going to be a legit #1 superstar kind of piece in the league. He will likely be an all star, he will likely be a very good #2 option.

That's just my two cents. If Embiid had no issues with injuries, we could have seen Wiggins go at 3. Not that it diminishes his talent.

 

[Soar]

Eh.. There were rumors about us trading him as soon as we picked him. So much so, they had to come out and say the pick wouldn't be traded. I do think Wiggins is going to be a very solid piece, but I'm not so sure he's going to be a legit #1 superstar kind of piece in the league. He will likely be an all star, he will likely be a very good #2 option.

That's just my two cents. If Embiid had no issues with injuries, we could have seen Wiggins go at 3. Not that it diminishes his talent.

Right. But I'm talking about our emotions at the end of season and likely picking 9th etc.

If you were told in April we would draft Wiggins and trade him, it would be considered a crazy possibility.

Both in sense we would have the chance to take him and then trade him.

 

[Ohio]

Gonna put on a show? Yeahhhh, no. How is he going to put on a show against the premiere defensive wing in the league, without the ability to dribble the basketball at all, and with an average jump shot?

I can honestly say that Wiggins as our opponent does not scare me at all. Not now, and not for the foreseeable future. Waiters as an opponent, on the other hand, would have the potential to scare me.

Dion would have killed us :chuckles:

 

[Jack Brickman]

Yeah, count me in for not scared of the first Wiggins/Cavs game. I like Wiggins, but the kid is a few years away from being the type of player that can kill a team in the NBA.

I also second that I'd be much more scared of Waiters going off the first game back after being traded.

 

[AZCavs]

I hope Wiggins lives up to all of the high expectations that have been placed on him. By virtually all accounts, he's a nice kid who just wants to play some ball. But the reason I want him to succeed is because I think the NBA needs more small market success. Of course they need big markets to compete too, but there is so much small market support in the NBA (Portland, San Antonio, OKC, SLC, and Cleveland -- just to name a few -- have some of the craziest playoff crowds that put the crowds in cities like Miami and New York to shame), that the fact that there isn't much success for them outside of one market is a bit frustrating.

Since 1980, only nine franchises have won titles. That's it. Nine out of the current 30 franchises have won championships over the past 35 seasons in the NBA. LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Miami and Dallas. There is a serious lack of parody in the NBA and the league does an absolute awful job of marketing its smaller markets to the rest of the country. For that reason, I want to see Wiggins to put Minnesota on his back and thrive.

 

[Kizzle]

I hope Wiggins lives up to all of the high expectations that have been placed on him. By virtually all accounts, he's a nice kid who just wants to play some ball. But the reason I want him to succeed is because I think the NBA needs more small market success. Of course they need big markets to compete too, but there is so much small market support in the NBA (Portland, San Antonio, OKC, SLC, and Cleveland -- just to name a few -- have some of the craziest playoff crowds that put the crowds in cities like Miami and New York to shame), that the fact that there isn't much success for them outside of one market is a bit frustrating.

Since 1980, only nine franchises have won titles. That's it. Nine out of the current 30 franchises have won championships over the past 35 seasons in the NBA. LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Miami and Dallas. There is a serious lack of parody in the NBA and the league does an absolute awful job of marketing its smaller markets to the rest of the country. For that reason, I want to see Wiggins to put Minnesota on his back and thrive.

Think the nba should contract honestly. There's just too many teams and since the new nba trend is teaming up, no one wants to be a one man team so I honestly NEVER see a world in which some teams become good unless they hit on every draft pick.

 

[stowfan]

I wish the best for the young man. A lot of what he has to say is the result of hurt feelings. The scouting report in the near future is; as soon as he get the ball, make him go left.

 

[hoops23]

Think the nba should contract honestly. There's just too many teams and since the new nba trend is teaming up, no one wants to be a one man team so I honestly NEVER see a world in which some teams become good unless they hit on every draft pick.

I'm not for contracting simply because I wouldn't want to see the league smaller nor would I want fans of other teams to lose their hometown team. Not only that, but what would the criteria be for teams being nixed?

 

[Simmy]

I've always been a Wiggins supporter - so much so that I was admittedly one of the "I don't want to trade Wiggins for Kevin Love" posters.

But as they say, "time heals all." I've had some time to watch more tape and think rationally about the whole "Wiggins won't be ready for another 4-5 years" argument. The reality is, Kevin Love + LBJ + Kyrie for 6 years really is greater than preserving Wiggins for the future. As much as that hurts to say, that's our best option.

I also have an affinity for players we draft. I still feel like Kevin Love is a Minnesota player, and the team we'll watch this year has little to nothing to do with the team we've now been watching grow for years, allowing room for the bandwagoners to jump on to something new and fresh.

But I got to the point where I had to say: "Fuck it!" - We all want to win. We want to win now that LeBron still can. I don't know about you guys, but for a city starved of glory, I'm happy with one measley little old championship.

Best of luck to Wiggins, I still think the kid is going to be a star in this league. And the Minny trade is probably the best thing for him. He can run his own team and set limitless challenges for himself that he couldn't dare have done as a Cavalier.

The reality of this really is = Cavs win, Wolves win, Wiggins win.

A great and fair deal for all parties involved.

 

[Pioneer10]

Yeah, count me in for not scared of the first Wiggins/Cavs game. I like Wiggins, but the kid is a few years away from being the type of player that can kill a team in the NBA.

I also second that I'd be much more scared of Waiters going off the first game back after being traded.

Really? Dion seems to be a guy who always start off slow and doesn't really get going till he's comfortable.
For reference, his games at Philly where he's got a ton of people to impress have been subpar to be kind.

 

[Pioneer10]

I hope Wiggins lives up to all of the high expectations that have been placed on him. By virtually all accounts, he's a nice kid who just wants to play some ball. But the reason I want him to succeed is because I think the NBA needs more small market success. Of course they need big markets to compete too, but there is so much small market support in the NBA (Portland, San Antonio, OKC, SLC, and Cleveland -- just to name a few -- have some of the craziest playoff crowds that put the crowds in cities like Miami and New York to shame), that the fact that there isn't much success for them outside of one market is a bit frustrating.

Since 1980, only nine franchises have won titles. That's it. Nine out of the current 30 franchises have won championships over the past 35 seasons in the NBA. LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Miami and Dallas. There is a serious lack of parody in the NBA and the league does an absolute awful job of marketing its smaller markets to the rest of the country. For that reason, I want to see Wiggins to put Minnesota on his back and thrive.

Who have been the best NBA players over the last 35 years?
Magic
Jordan
Bird
Duncan
Shaq
Hakeem
Kobe
Wade
Lebron

You need an HOF plus MVP type to win a title and it's very rare (ala Detroit) when that doesn't happen. That's the reason for parity: this isn't the NFL where depth beats and why we don't see many Herschel Walker type trades leading to success like the Cowboys.

 

[Baseline Runner]

I hope Wiggins lives up to all of the high expectations that have been placed on him. By virtually all accounts, he's a nice kid who just wants to play some ball. But the reason I want him to succeed is because I think the NBA needs more small market success. Of course they need big markets to compete too, but there is so much small market support in the NBA (Portland, San Antonio, OKC, SLC, and Cleveland -- just to name a few -- have some of the craziest playoff crowds that put the crowds in cities like Miami and New York to shame), that the fact that there isn't much success for them outside of one market is a bit frustrating.

Since 1980, only nine franchises have won titles. That's it. Nine out of the current 30 franchises have won championships over the past 35 seasons in the NBA. LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Miami and Dallas. There is a serious lack of parody in the NBA and the league does an absolute awful job of marketing its smaller markets to the rest of the country. For that reason, I want to see Wiggins to put Minnesota on his back and thrive.

The only problem is that the Minnesotans don't care much about basketball, the sport is a distant fourth behind football, hockey and baseball. Right now the two best teams are two small markets, Cleveland and San Antonio while the largest city in America, and perhaps the Mecca of basketball, New York, has been bad for mediocre for 30 for the last 40 years.

With salary cap restrictions being what they are I don't think the big markets hold much leverage over the smaller markets. The only reason that so few teams win championships is more due to the nature of basketball where one dominant superstar can have so much impact on the game. It's not just a handful of teams but a handful of incredibily dominant players, Jordan, Kobe, Duncan, Shaq, Bird, Olajuwon, Magic and Lebron, that have won almost all of the titles the last 30 years. But historically you have as good of a chance at drafting one of these superstars than acquiring them through free agency.

I was about to launch into a rant about why trading Wiggins was a mistake because you never trade a draft pick like Wiggins with the potential to be a difference making superstar, even if it is a small chance (which Kevin Love, being an all-star, is not on that elite level I am talking about), but that is history now, time for me to move on.

 

[blommen]

what pains me the most about losing Wiggins, which i have come to terms with btw, is that we will probably never know how good he could actually have become. Him being placed in Cleveland was the ideal situation for him to expand and evolve his game and hone it into something truly spectacular what with LeBron mentoring him, Blatt molding him and slowly grooming him into the heir apparent to the starting 3 role for us. now he is going thrown into a terrible situation in Minny where the spotlight will be on him from day one and his every flaw will be exposed in far greater detail. It sucks that we probably won't ever get to see Wiggins fully reach his potential because of this trade, 'cause i truly feel that we were the team to help him reach that, along with San Antonio.