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Would Wiggins be enough?

Andrew Wiggins might not be the best deal the Wolves can get out of Kevin Love. But then again, maybe it is

By Key Dae
Andy Lyons

Now, by all accounts, this is a very exploratory thing right now. Just putting the idea out there in a "hey, here's a thought" kind of way. Not the framework for an actual, possible trade.

That said, this obviously makes a ton of sense for the Cavaliers. LeBron is at a point where...even if Wiggins ends up being spectacular....he won't want to sit and wait a couple years for that to happen. Love is ready to go now, and the trio of LeBron/Love/Irving would make the Cavs instant title contenders.

For the Wolves, any deal here would have to be built on Andrew Wiggins. Who I'm still very skeptical of. His college production was not great, and his overall demeanor was more of a guy just trying whatever and using his athleticism to bail himself out of bad decisions.


In the pre-draft metrics aggregate, Wiggins ranked just 14th in the draft class, with an average score of 59 (for reference, Jabari Parker's average score was 76. Embiid's score led everyone at 87) So right now, he's clearly a guy being looked at for his potential more than anything.

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As long time readers know, this site has harped on the Wolves' tendency to go for a best case scenario instead of the most likely scenario, and for good reason. Our team history is a case study in the bust side of boom or bust picks.

But as an athlete in combination with Rubio...and as a rookie salary...the Wiggins route isn't really worse than paying a huge amount of money to a Klay Thompson long term. The Wolves could do a lot worse than a kid to run the wings and get after it on defense. Wiggins would cost less and can be more than Klay, so that's a risk worth taking.

I'm not sure if I'd take him over Parsons, as I'm not sure that Wiggins will be more than Parsons is right now. But considering every team in the LeBron/Melo chase will turn to Chandler if they miss out, that route might just not be a possibility. Given Hayward's offer from Charlotte, it's all but a foregone conclusion Parsons will get a max deal from someone. Since we can't give him any more in a sign-and-trade than any other team can with an offer sheet, you're basically banking on pure prejudice at that point. It's entirely just on where Parsons wants to go. If it's not here, we lose.

Parsons has signed and submitted his offer sheet with the Mavericks, eliminating him as a sign-and-trade candidate. So that's already one option off the table.

And I definitely wouldn't take him over a Bulls deal. But who even knows if a Bulls deal will even reach the table?

There's a potential fallout here where the Wolves do indeed get basically nothing. LeBron goes to Cleveland, Bosh goes to Houston, Melo goes to Houston or Chicago, Chicago goes after Gasol....it's not impossible for the other top teams on the Love board to all more or less fill their needs without any of them actually dealing for Love. At that point, we'd be down to hoping the Celtics can cobble together an acceptable deal, or taking what scraps the Warriors or Knicks offer. And as skittish as I am on Wiggins, neither the Ws or Knicks can offer something as good as him.

EDIT: LeBron IS going to Cleveland and Bosh IS going to Houston. Melo IS still considering Chicago. Again, the field is already narrowing.

((Bosh is now NOT going to Houston))

So Wiggins, a future first (or two), and some combination of Dion Waiter, Tristan Thompson, Anderson Verajao...if the Cavaliers were to put that sort of deal on the table, I think you'd have to take that deal. Don't hold out for a possibility that might not ever materialize.

On the very plus side, Wiggins dresses like the credits scene of a Pink Panther movie. So there's always that.