Has Andrew Wiggins finally broken out? After scoring a career-high 27 points against the Sacramento Kings Thursday, Wiggins appears to be adjusting to the NBA.
The total set a career high for the rookie, but this outburst didn’t come out of nowhere. In Wiggins’ last five games, he has averaged 21.4 points, and seems to be more confident on the court. Wiggins has increased his point production every month this season by expanding his game and becoming a more complete player.
The first sign of Wiggins’ growth has seen him become less reliant on the three-point shot. The month of November saw Wiggins shoot 16.8 of his shots from beyond the arc. However, his numbers from the month of December were much different as Wiggins shot only 9.1 percent of his shots from three-point range.
The other aspect of Wiggins overall game which has improved is his ability to work within the offense. He has shown great improvement waiting for the right opportunity to shoot. Through his first full month of the season, Wiggins only made 52.6 percent of shots on assisted balls.
His numbers in his second full month showed vast improvement as he hit 63.0 percent of balls passed his way. These stats play really well in Wiggins favor, as Minnesota has one of the best passing guards in the game, Ricky Rubio, who has been out with an injury since November.
If Wiggins can become confident in his ability to look for the passer and open the floor with his improved jumper he will succeed greatly in this league, especially with a passer as good as Rubio on your team.
The Timberwolves are in no way a good NBA team now, but they have a lot of young talent to build around, with Wiggins is at the core of that. The former Kansas Jayhawk will take time to grow, but it looks like he is on the right track.