When Andrew Wiggins arrived at the Sixers’ offices yesterday, he should have been wearing a sign on his back: “Disaster Ahead!” Because that is exactly what he represents in the NBA draft nine days from now. He will break the heart of whatever team picks him. He will be a bust. Bet on it.
At the risk of redundancy, I offer my second consecutive week of dire warnings about Wiggins, the forward from Kansas whose extraordinary talents are exceeded only by his soft inner core. (Don’t miss part three here next week.) Wiggins is precisely the kind of player designed to slip right past the analytics probing of GM Sam Hinkie because there are no statistical breakdowns on heart.
Last week, ESPN reported that Wiggins prefers to play in Philadelphia, a report that drew acclaim here for an obvious reason. We love to be wanted. The only problem is, any player who prefers the Sixers right now is not the kind of young star they need. Wiggins wants to play on a team with one proven player — Michael Carter-Williams — and two other possible contributors, Thaddeus Young and Nerlens Noel? Really?
Now why would that be? It’s obvious. Because he wants to be in a place with no early expectations, no pressure. Remember, Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil is already on the record saying he doesn’t expect the team to make the playoffs next season — which is precisely what Wiggins wanted to hear.
So let’s review. Wiggins scored four points in the biggest game of his career, Kansas coach Bill Self said the young player lacks the mentality of “the Alpha dog,” and the kid is looking for a soft place to land in the NBA draft. The bottom line: Andrew Wiggins is an amazing athlete with no backbone.
When he left Philadelphia yesterday after his visit, Sixers fans all need to hope really, really hard that Wiggins was carrying a one-way ticket out of town.
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