Slaughtered by the Pelicans at home, the Warriors were really on the verge of collapse. Not only have they been outnumbered by the Jazz in terms of record, dropping to 12th place in the West, but considering that the Grizzlies behind them are on a three-game winning streak, the shaky Warriors look likely to slip down the rankings and become the laughing stock of the league. Besides, their 24-year first-round pick is not in their hands, and they have no chance to mess up like they did in the original 20 years, and to be honest, in the eyes of everyone, a trade is only the only way out for the Warriors, and their trade chip is also clear, and that is their forward Andrew Wiggins. Say goodbye to the Warriors, be put on the shelf, slide hugely, and your career will hardly return to the top.
Against the Pelicans, a scene in the final quarter was a bit unbearable, and in the case of a huge disadvantage, Kerr withdrew his troops in advance, conceded defeat, and he replaced a series of young people and marginal characters who were not in the rotation, but Wiggins was still on the court. As a result, in the past few minutes, Wiggins shot 1 of 5 and ate the opponent's big hat once, and the situation was embarrassing for a while. First of all, it is an "insult" to let Wiggins appear with this group of fringe players, to put it mildly, in the eyes of the Warriors coaching staff, Wiggins is no longer one of their core workhorses, and killing garbage time has become one of Wiggins' job tasks, which is quite ironic in itself, and he still performs so poorly in garbage time.
In fact, the Warriors' purpose in letting Wiggins continue to play in garbage time is very clear, basically to let him brush up a little more data and then sell it for a good price. According to a previous report by well-known NBA reporter Stein, sources revealed that the Warriors are open to trading Wiggins away. In the eyes of many, Wiggins' departure from the Warriors this season is already a foregone conclusion. First of all, the Warriors will definitely have a trade this season, if they don't trade, sit back and wait, the playoffs are gone, the first-round pick is someone else's, the best way for the Warriors to stop losses in time is to trade to improve their strength, break into the playoffs as much as possible, play one or two more rounds, and make some money.
Under the premise of not moving Curry and Knight Green, Wiggins' salary of more than 20 million has become the only high-quality chip left by the Warriors, and he still has some value in trading Wiggins at this time. Secondly, the role that originally belonged to Wiggins on the team has now been snatched away by others. Now the Warriors' starting small forward is Kuminga, and the latter is not just a temporary replacement for Wiggins, he completely occupies this position, the young and potential Kuminga has become the answer to the Warriors' future forward position, Wiggins has been completely abandoned. Of course, Wiggins is not without a chance to reverse his situation with the Warriors, and the two-front line is his last chance. But unfortunately, this lineup is very ineffective.
In the words of NBA reporter Stein, when Wiggins and Kuminga play together, the Warriors will be the first to tell you that this lineup is not working, these two are destined to be abandoned, obviously Kuminga is already in a huge lead, Wiggins's mentality, no one believes that he can turn the tables, including the Warriors management, which is why he was put on the shelf. Wiggins can only blame himself for all this. Speaking of embarrassment, a season ago, he was an NBA All-Star Western starting forward, and now Wiggins is 28 years old.
didn't expect Wiggins to usher in such a sudden and terrifying cliff-like decline. This season, Wiggins averaged 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.4 blocks per game, his shooting rate was only 42.2%, and the three-point shooting rate was 29.7%, these data, more than half, have created a new low in Wiggins' career, worse than his rookie season, he seems to have entered the decline stage in advance, considering the impression of Wiggins' career, no one dares to guess how long he will stay in the NBA after the age of 30. From the darling of the Golden State to the outcast of the Bay Area, Wiggins only took one season, even after returning from the playoffs last season, Wiggins maintained the level of 17+6+2+1 blocks, but this season he ruined his Warriors prospects and future career direction.