Yes, there was reason to doubt Andrew Wiggins when he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves. But he has proven all of the doubters wrong. And it's ok to admit it.
Kind of OT. My deepest fear as we look to the long term future of the team is that maybe we can't really get there again once Steph is not Steph. We are doing everything wisely, it seems: drafting in ways that seem wise to me, developing players well, hiring a coach who has established a great culture, signing vets on minimums, letting younger players get minutes, establishing and elaborating a style of play, paying for value. But what sends a chilly icicle down my spine is the thought that all of it may not be enough. Because sometimes when I look at the dynasty years I think maybe this was a great combination of great ownership/front office/coaching/players/ good fortune. Yet sometimes I look at it and think "Steph." What do you think, could we win a chip without Steph?
Any chance the Warriors offer Wiggins an extension this offseason? And what would it be?
Wiggins will have 9 years experience after next year, which puts his (projected) max starting at $39.5m in 2023/2024, with a 4 year contract with 8% raises looking like 4/$176.9m
I don't see Wiggins taking a massive discount of like a 4/$120m contract.
He's making $33.6m in 2022/2023, so minimum for an extension probably starts at $35m, so with 8% annual raises, that means a 4/$156m contract.
For the 23/24 season, the Warriors currently have Curry ($51.2m), Klay ($43m), Draymond ($27m Player Option) and their rookie scale guys under contract.
Add in Poole probably looking at like $25m/year.
So like $180m into 5 players.....wow lol
These next couple years are really going to test how much Lacob is willing to spend on this roster. Or maybe the plan is as long as they're winning, you pay everybody, and you feel confident that if they can't win anymore, you can still trade them.
I was cautiously optimistic about Wiggins, and he’s been better than I had expected, capped with a great finals run. I will apologize to him for nearly writing him off after his proloooonged post allstar slump. That said, he’s getting paid bookoo bucks (more than the 1st and 2nd MVP vote getters for instance) so he still has a little ways to go to live up to the contract. Now if he goes full superstar in 2023 I will get on my knees and kiss the ground he walks on! (Can you imagine how much the league would hate us if that happened??)
Whilst we are talking KD - I know this would be annoying for us, but I would really like to see KD team up with Dame in Portland. A small franchise with a good leader.
Off topic but I don't understand why 2 really really good teams (Suns and the Nets) are hell-bent on cratering their chances for next season. Both are facing unpalatable decisions but surely the alternative is even worse, isn't it?
For the Nets, a long-term max to Kyrie Irving is likely to be a bad decision. But considering the consequences (of KD likely leaving) combined with the fact that they basically don't have their own FRPs until 2027, you've got to keep them along with Ben Simmons and hope that group can win a championship right? Am I crazy or are they grossly mishandling this lol? What are they going to do, tank and hope Houston out-tanks them?
As for the Suns, that's a much less cut and dry situation, but what exactly do they think they're going to do with Ayton's salary slot? I struggle to think of available players who would be an improvement on Ayton (particularly considering that teams know that Suns have little leverage). Yes he's not a max player, but surely he's a 20-25 million player? And he's 23, so improvement to a max quality player is not out of the picture.
I felt like putting him in a position to be the 4th best player on the team would do wonders for him - and he had all the tools to be an elite 3 and D type guy who was low maintenance and could be easily integrated into the culture.
I could have never imagined we would get this type of output, particularly the rebounding and when the lights were brightest.
I knew he could be really good....I just didn't know that we would win a Title with him being the 2nd best/most consistent player throughout the playoffs.
Credit goes to the players, the coaching staff and our front office. Super proud of how this franchise consistently realizes careers and puts players in the best position to succeed.
When we first got Wiggins I was so sad and thinking “is Meyers just throwing darts?” I thought Wiggins was like an old Pontiac: cool-looking sometimes but barely runs.
Turns out he’s like Draymond: start him up every now to make sure everything is ok during the looooooong season, then let the miles rack up and leave the opposition in the dust when the games really matter.
Jun 26, 2022Liked by Eric Apricot, Daniel Hardee, Nate P
Forgot to mention - for those of you know are not familiar with Nate P. - he ran the former site during the years I used to read it. I have a very soft spot in my heart for him.
Terrific writer, super insightful guy. If you haven't read his stuff in the past, you're going to love it.
We DNHQ readers are phenomenally blessed to be able to get content developed by Daniel, Eric, Duby, and Nate. Now we just need Joe V. here to make it just about perfect :-)
Winning an NBA championship is nice and all, and it is great that the Wiggins trade worked out, but I'm gonna be bummed if the Warriors don't win the California Classic. Assuming Wiseman plays, they have 3 lottery picks that each have a year of professional ball (Kumiga with 2 years) against 1 team that mortgaged their future for a win now star (cough), a team that has been drafting late for a couple of years, and the Kings. It really seems like the young Warriors ought to dominate.
Late to the party here, but damn Nate!!!! Really enjoyed this one
Kind of OT. My deepest fear as we look to the long term future of the team is that maybe we can't really get there again once Steph is not Steph. We are doing everything wisely, it seems: drafting in ways that seem wise to me, developing players well, hiring a coach who has established a great culture, signing vets on minimums, letting younger players get minutes, establishing and elaborating a style of play, paying for value. But what sends a chilly icicle down my spine is the thought that all of it may not be enough. Because sometimes when I look at the dynasty years I think maybe this was a great combination of great ownership/front office/coaching/players/ good fortune. Yet sometimes I look at it and think "Steph." What do you think, could we win a chip without Steph?
Any chance the Warriors offer Wiggins an extension this offseason? And what would it be?
Wiggins will have 9 years experience after next year, which puts his (projected) max starting at $39.5m in 2023/2024, with a 4 year contract with 8% raises looking like 4/$176.9m
I don't see Wiggins taking a massive discount of like a 4/$120m contract.
He's making $33.6m in 2022/2023, so minimum for an extension probably starts at $35m, so with 8% annual raises, that means a 4/$156m contract.
For the 23/24 season, the Warriors currently have Curry ($51.2m), Klay ($43m), Draymond ($27m Player Option) and their rookie scale guys under contract.
Add in Poole probably looking at like $25m/year.
So like $180m into 5 players.....wow lol
These next couple years are really going to test how much Lacob is willing to spend on this roster. Or maybe the plan is as long as they're winning, you pay everybody, and you feel confident that if they can't win anymore, you can still trade them.
As a Warriors fan I really enjoyed this article: https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2022/6/25/23181581/lakers-warriors-jeanie-buss-joe-lacob-steph-curry-lebron-james-draft-trade-nba
This is half a year old, just found & enjoyed it, so I thought I share it with you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuOkS2tm89k
"Stephen Curry Replies to Fans on the Internet"
Don't miss the question at 5:43 :)
I was cautiously optimistic about Wiggins, and he’s been better than I had expected, capped with a great finals run. I will apologize to him for nearly writing him off after his proloooonged post allstar slump. That said, he’s getting paid bookoo bucks (more than the 1st and 2nd MVP vote getters for instance) so he still has a little ways to go to live up to the contract. Now if he goes full superstar in 2023 I will get on my knees and kiss the ground he walks on! (Can you imagine how much the league would hate us if that happened??)
Whilst we are talking KD - I know this would be annoying for us, but I would really like to see KD team up with Dame in Portland. A small franchise with a good leader.
Off topic but I don't understand why 2 really really good teams (Suns and the Nets) are hell-bent on cratering their chances for next season. Both are facing unpalatable decisions but surely the alternative is even worse, isn't it?
For the Nets, a long-term max to Kyrie Irving is likely to be a bad decision. But considering the consequences (of KD likely leaving) combined with the fact that they basically don't have their own FRPs until 2027, you've got to keep them along with Ben Simmons and hope that group can win a championship right? Am I crazy or are they grossly mishandling this lol? What are they going to do, tank and hope Houston out-tanks them?
As for the Suns, that's a much less cut and dry situation, but what exactly do they think they're going to do with Ayton's salary slot? I struggle to think of available players who would be an improvement on Ayton (particularly considering that teams know that Suns have little leverage). Yes he's not a max player, but surely he's a 20-25 million player? And he's 23, so improvement to a max quality player is not out of the picture.
I was all in on Wiggins from the jump.
I felt like putting him in a position to be the 4th best player on the team would do wonders for him - and he had all the tools to be an elite 3 and D type guy who was low maintenance and could be easily integrated into the culture.
I could have never imagined we would get this type of output, particularly the rebounding and when the lights were brightest.
I knew he could be really good....I just didn't know that we would win a Title with him being the 2nd best/most consistent player throughout the playoffs.
Credit goes to the players, the coaching staff and our front office. Super proud of how this franchise consistently realizes careers and puts players in the best position to succeed.
When we first got Wiggins I was so sad and thinking “is Meyers just throwing darts?” I thought Wiggins was like an old Pontiac: cool-looking sometimes but barely runs.
Turns out he’s like Draymond: start him up every now to make sure everything is ok during the looooooong season, then let the miles rack up and leave the opposition in the dust when the games really matter.
Good to see you back Nate!
It’s clear Wiggins Island is now at full capacity!
Forgot to mention - for those of you know are not familiar with Nate P. - he ran the former site during the years I used to read it. I have a very soft spot in my heart for him.
Terrific writer, super insightful guy. If you haven't read his stuff in the past, you're going to love it.
We DNHQ readers are phenomenally blessed to be able to get content developed by Daniel, Eric, Duby, and Nate. Now we just need Joe V. here to make it just about perfect :-)
It's an incredible feeling to go on the trade machine and not see a single Warrior that you'd want to trade.
Winning an NBA championship is nice and all, and it is great that the Wiggins trade worked out, but I'm gonna be bummed if the Warriors don't win the California Classic. Assuming Wiseman plays, they have 3 lottery picks that each have a year of professional ball (Kumiga with 2 years) against 1 team that mortgaged their future for a win now star (cough), a team that has been drafting late for a couple of years, and the Kings. It really seems like the young Warriors ought to dominate.
doesn’t get injured, doesn’t get tired, puts our toughest opponents on posters
First of all, it's so great to see the Nate P. byline here at DNHQ!
OK, my first reaction was, OH NO! WHY'D WE GET THAT GUY?
It didn't take me that long to come around to "Harrison Barnes equivalent."
Then, this year, it was "OK, maybe a little better than Barnes."
Then it was, "Dude, that smile of yours really lights up the world." 'Cause I can't stop smiling when I see that huge Wiggins smile.
Then I started looking for a condo as a vacation home on Wiggins Island. (My first place is here in the Hashemite Kingdom.)
So, yeah, I owe Wiggs an apology, too.
My favorite Wiggs moment this year was when he posterized Karl Barely Cares. Second favorite was the poster on Luka.