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Andrew Wiggins and Steph Curry make up the Warriors' backcourt in preseason win – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

Posted on by Kennedy
Andrew Wiggins and Steph Curry make up the Warriors' backcourt in preseason win – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

For the first time in six months, the Warriors got a microscopic look at Andrew Wiggins in an NBA game on Tuesday night. They didn't expect much and didn't get much as it scraped off significant rust.

But Wiggins' presence and position gave a glimpse of what's possible before the season. And sensible.

Wiggins did not start at his usual small forward position, but at shooting guard, where he had never started for Golden State in the regular season. He shared the backcourt with point guard Stephen Curry, a role made legendary by the two-way talents of star player Klay Thompson.

Curry and Wiggins, along with Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis, formed two-fifths of a lineup that may be the most balanced the Warriors can field.

“The key is JK and Wiggs commanding the court,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters in Las Vegas after a 111-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at T-Mobile Arena. “It puts a lot of pressure on the teams. And they set a good tone tonight, the way they just came downhill, with or without the ball, they were gone. I really like the way both of these guys played and the impact they can make with their athleticism and strength.”

Wiggins played 21 minutes and finished with 11 points on 3 of 9 shooting from the field, including 0 of 3 from long range. He was 5 of 5 from the line and added an assist and a steal.

The tiny sample size of Golden State's fifth starting lineup through five games offered nothing meaningful — let alone definitive — especially because Wiggins, who missed most of training camp, was new to the action.

Kerr has been envisioning a possible Curry-Wiggins backcourt for nearly a year, ever since he recognized the growing likelihood that Klay Thompson would leave Golden State. Kerr has long viewed Thompson and Wiggins, who are of similar size and two-way ability, as interchangeable wings; This was an opportunity to test that idea.

While Wiggins will never be the dead-eye shooter that Thompson was, he is now a better on-ball defender. He has the tools to do good to great work against most playmakers in the league, and that was one of them last season Golden State's most obvious weaknesses. General manager Mike Dunleavy addressed this in July by signing De'Anthony Melton, a premier point-of-attack defender. Gary Payton II, who missed most of last season, is another Hellcat with the ball.

But Wiggins is more physical and offers more offensive versatility. Since joining the Warriors in February 2020, his success rate is 38.1 percent. Not Klay, but very solid. When Wiggins was named to the Western Conference All-Star team in 2021-22, he shot 39.3 percent from deep. Again, not Klay, but more than acceptable.

One of several clear messages from Kerr to Wiggins is to increase his number of 3-point shots.

“I already told him: six 3-pointers per game,” Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke last week. “He’s a really good 3-point shooter. Last year it was down a bit. But since he's been here – 39, 40 percent. I want a lot of threes and I want a lot of attacks to the rim. Last year, he shot over 80 percent from the foul line in the second half of the year.

“He seems very comfortable in every aspect of the game. And let’s be honest, with Klay gone, we need him to be our second goalscorer after Steph, and we know he’s fully capable of doing that.”

If Wiggins shoots six more threes per game, that will free up Kuminga, whose 3-ball looks better but may always be secondary to his ability to attack the rim. Both were in the starting lineup because Kerr's dream scenario is to play them together – with two athletic 6-foot-2 wingers to challenge opponents at both ends.

While Melton is a real scoring threat, it would be excessive to expect him to get close to 20 points per game. That's more than double his career average. And GP2 is a player who primarily plays defense and is good for a few corner triples, but can't score heavy points.

In contrast, Wiggins is averaging 18.5 points per game for his career. He has exceeded the 20-per-game limit four times in his 10-year career, both with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

With Thompson gone, Wiggins is no longer a good option at third. The question is, does he now represent a good second option? He has the tools and now he has to make the most of them.

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