The status quo obviously isn’t working in Minnesota. It’s something new Timberwolves President Gersson Rosas is looking to change after having recently been brought on from the Houston Rockets.
Among the biggest albatrosses within the organization is an enigmatic Andrew Wiggins. Acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the now infamous Kevin Love trade ahead of the 2014-15 season, Wiggins has failed to up his game.
In fact, an argument can be made that the one-dimensional player has regressed in recent years. This past season saw a still young 24-year-old Wiggins average 18.1 points while shooting just 41 percent from the field.
This came a short while after Minnesota’s previous regime maxed Wiggins out on a five-year, $147.7 million contract.
In talking about Minnesota’s struggles recently, Rosas seemed to be open to the idea of trading Wiggins.
“Our approach on a day by day basis is we have to maximize every resource,” Rosas said, via Chris Hine of the Star Tribune. “That’s a lot similar to what we did in Houston. You’ve got to be creative with everything we have whether it’s assets or resources or a structure in place, and where can we gain a competitive advantage.
While Rosas wasn’t specifically talking about Wiggins there, he did add some context to that quote later.
“I would say to be fair, the organization hasn’t fulfilled that potential,” Rosas said of Wiggins. “That’s everybody. There’s demands on every member of this organization, whether you’re a player, staff, whatever the case may be, we have to execute.”
The new Wolves front office head is obviously questioning the performance of former head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau. He’s also making it clear that Wiggins isn’t blameless in all of this.
This comes on the heels of a recent report suggesting that Minnesota is aggressively shopping Wiggins in trade scenarios.
At issue here is Wiggins’ bloated contract and his reputation as a one-dimensional player that lacks anything of substance on defense.
With that said, he’s still young. There’s a lot of room to grow. It’s possible that another struggling team with a ton of cap room takes on Wiggins’ contract.
It’s something we should hear more about leading up to the 2019 NBA Draft on Thursday.