NBA Rumors: Is an Andrew Wiggins Trade in the Minnesota Timberwolves' Future?
Recent rumor suggests that Wiggins is not fond of being the Timberwolves' third option on offense
The Minnesota Timberwolves are starting to re-emerge in the NBA landscape.
After years of draft picks failing to live up to the hype or injuries derailing once promising seasons, the Wolves are now on the rise, and they have reached this position in part by building upon the young core of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.
To support Towns and Wiggins, the members of the Wolves' front office have brought in veterans like Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson among others.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
For this season at least, those moves are working as the Wolves are in prime position to snap their lengthy postseason drought. However, even this successful campaign could lead to some issues popping up down the line.
Recently, Timberwolves analyst for 1500 ESPN Derek James drew attention to something said by Darren Wolfson of KSTP regarding one player on the team.
According to Wolfson, Wiggins has "whispered to teammates" that he was not too thrilled about being the team's third option on offense.
Now, it is unclear at this point if Wiggins' reported unhappiness with the current situation is because he would like to have a more prominent role on the team or if he wants to be a featured star elsewhere.
It is possible that Wiggins would just like more opportunities with the ball in his hands in Minnesota and is not wishing for an exit of any kind. Then again, maybe he feels that he should be the man on offense for the team since he has already averaged more than 20 points per game in a season twice in the NBA, accomplishing that feat during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns, according to Basketball Reference.
If it is the latter, then suddenly, the Timberwolves may have to consider the possibility of trading Wiggins.
Still, Wiggins is not the easiest guy to trade in the NBA even though he is young and obviously talented. He is going to make tons of money once his extension kicks in next season, and him still not being a knockdown shooter or a lockdown defender may make other teams hesitant to invest big in him.
In all likelihood, even if all is not well between Wiggins and the Wolves, a trade is not going to happen this offseason, as both sides may be better off working together instead of pondering a quick separation.
