Anytime Aaron Wiggins was on the floor, things just didn't look the same. The 27-year-old has carved out a best-case scenario career by getting to the rim and finishing through traffic. Over the years, he's sharpened his outside jumper. To the point that he could create his own looks.
But for whatever reason, Wiggins' basketball powers suddenly vanished. The Oklahoma City Thunder gave him ample opportunities to rev up his motor, but all those chances became fruitless. He didn't have the same offensive juice. And on defense, the opposition went at him. After a while, they had to cut their losses and remove the longtime player from the rotation.
Wiggins didn't have the same magic he had last year. A career campaign that featured an NBA championship ring and an epic parade speech was followed up by regression to the mean across the board. He averaged 9.4 points on 43.1% shooting, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 ****** ists. His outside shot went down to 35.6% from 3 on 4.2 attempts.
While those are solid numbers in a vacuum, most of the goodwill was bought with a blazing start. But injuries and inconsistent playing time eroded that production as the year went on. By the NBA playoffs, Wiggins was completely out of the rotation. In his exit interview, he talked about his reduced role.
"Nothing is permanent. A lot of things change from day to day and obviously, year to year. As the end of the season and that last stretch, I wasn't my best self. I obviously wasn't seeing the minutes that I might be capable of seeing," Wiggins said. "But from a team perspective, still being a professional, buying into the team and being around guys who I love supporting and being with. It makes it easy to come in and embrace the togetherness of the team first."
But for whatever reason, Wiggins' basketball powers suddenly vanished. The Oklahoma City Thunder gave him ample opportunities to rev up his motor, but all those chances became fruitless. He didn't have the same offensive juice. And on defense, the opposition went at him. After a while, they had to cut their losses and remove the longtime player from the rotation.
Wiggins didn't have the same magic he had last year. A career campaign that featured an NBA championship ring and an epic parade speech was followed up by regression to the mean across the board. He averaged 9.4 points on 43.1% shooting, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 ****** ists. His outside shot went down to 35.6% from 3 on 4.2 attempts.
While those are solid numbers in a vacuum, most of the goodwill was bought with a blazing start. But injuries and inconsistent playing time eroded that production as the year went on. By the NBA playoffs, Wiggins was completely out of the rotation. In his exit interview, he talked about his reduced role.
"Nothing is permanent. A lot of things change from day to day and obviously, year to year. As the end of the season and that last stretch, I wasn't my best self. I obviously wasn't seeing the minutes that I might be capable of seeing," Wiggins said. "But from a team perspective, still being a professional, buying into the team and being around guys who I love supporting and being with. It makes it easy to come in and embrace the togetherness of the team first."
3 months ago
