My in-depth Andrew Wiggins scouting report (MUST READ)

[Eye Cue DA COLI GAWD]

Off the bat....

In five years we will look back at this draft and laugh that anyone thought this guy was going to be better than Parker and Embiid at minimum, along with a host of other top 10 picks (Randle, Smart, Euro center) who I believe stand a significant chance of becoming better players than Wiggins during their NBA careers.


My Wiggins scouting report is as follows:

- A good Wiggins analogy to me is like a millionaire wearing a fake-ass rolex. Everybody knows the millionaire has money (Wiggins measurables) but that don't make the fake-ass watch he's wearing (Wiggins game tape) anymore realer.


Adorned with massive levels of hype in high school (mostly based on a single AAU highlight video), Wiggins has been name long known around the coli. So knowing the amount of hype he had out of high school, I was anxious to see Wiggins his first few games at Kanas. Safe to say as skeptic going into the process, I was not disappointed when I saw Wiggins drift 19 feet away from the basket on possession after possession against some no-name DII school. He game nor his alleged great athleticism stood out. He lacked great explosion with the ball. Off the rip I saw that he will have difficulty creating space at the next level. At times, his robotic movements with the ball borders on LOL levels of simpleness. At the beginning of his college career Wiggins played like a kid who did not believe he belonged.

As Wiggins progressed into the season he finally started to use some of his natural athleticism. The only problem is that he still did not stand out at an elite level. Despite having a supposedly 40+ vert, Wiggins lacked great bounce in traffic (shot 42% at the rim) and off one-leg. Being a predominant two-leag leaper in the NBA is all good, but you have to be better than decent jumping off one leg or you're going to have issues. Wiggins doesn't appear to have anything more than decent bounce off one leg for a player of his ilk. He has great height and length (which compensates for his lack of tight-space jumping ability), but the guy is a twig, so I really don't see him doing consistent damage in half-court situations besides the occasional backside alley-oop.

Wiggins also sucks as a ball-handler. No, I'm serious... he can't dribble. You can probably dribble better than him. I've been watching Youtube videos of this guy for 8 months and I've yet to find a highlight where he finishes with his left. I know that may be funny to you, but to me, its very sad. IMO, this proves the guy has never practiced hard on his game. Which brings me to my final point:

I believe Andrew Wiggins to a man only played basketball because he probably picked it up at young age due to having good athletic pedigree (mom - athlete, dad - athlete). I mean, you gotta play something, right? Then when he started to grow and jump, he said "Fukk it, I'm going to dunk and shoot long ass 3s till I get to the league". Nothing about this guy's game to me says he WANTS IT. He doesn't play with great passion, so therefore, I'm left to think he's never practiced that way either. He is seemingly content being a great athlete going to a league full of great athletes. So be it.


Summary: Wiggins lack of skill will be too much to overcome in order to be what many think he will become -- and that's a great basketball player.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

How sweet it will be when Cleveland drafts him.

 

[Eye Cue DA COLI GAWD]

Cavs are one of the better teams for him to go to. They've been looking for a 3D small forward for a while.

 

[Da_Eggman]

I see Rudy Gay

 

[Eye Cue DA COLI GAWD]

I see Rudy Gay

From Draftexpress 2006

Weaknesses

Gay’s all-around skill level is still lagging behind his outstanding physical attributes, and he struggles at times to live up to the immense expectations that have been placed on him through the incredible amount of hype he’s received since he was in high school.

Despite being an incredible athlete, Gay is not always capable of fully taking advantage of it, especially in half-court sets. His ball-handling is not up to par with his phenomenal first step, and he does not really know how to effectively and consistently create space for himself off the dribble. He relies too much on his athleticism and not enough on the crafty type of moves that all great wing players have in their arsenal to get their man off balance; including head and body fakes and hesitation moves to give himself more room to operate. His size works as a detriment at the collegiate level, as he exposes the ball to his much smaller perimeter rivals by not yet knowing how to use his flexibility to get his body low enough to the floor. His coaches in the NBA will have to work with him on being more fluid and not so upright, to better take advantage of his body control, which is just average at the moment.

Gay’s in-between game still needs plenty of work. Because he is such a gifted athlete and physical specimen, Gay can get a semi-open shot on the perimeter just by making a short dribble or two and elevating high off the floor. More so in the early part of the season he showed a tendency to abuse this part of his game, settling for too many fadeaway jump-shots outside of the context of the offense. This is not a part of his game where he is extremely polished in yet, which hurts his percentages from both the field and behind the arc. This was a major problem for UConn's offense until he recommitted himself to playing more to his strengths, particularly within 15 feet of the basket.

While his frame is terrific, being long, tall and extremely lanky, he could still stand to add some bulk to it to help him deal with the everyday rigors and physicality of the NBA.

On the other end of the floor, Gay is often asked to guard players that are much smaller than him, since the average college small forward is usually 6-6 or less. He shows problems defending smaller players, again not getting low enough to the floor to take advantage of his lateral movement and therefore struggling to stay in front of his man. He needs to continue to garner experience defending the perimeter, but still has terrific potential on this end of the floor.

Gay will go through long stretches where he coasts and just doesn’t ask for ball. When he’s in these funks he tends to just camps in the corner and not make his presence felt in half-court sets unless his team is specifically running plays for him. His off-ball movement is not good enough at this point. And like many players his age, his motor can be very inconsistent.

One of the biggest questions NBA GMs will wonder is whether he has a killer instinct. Early on in the season especially, Gay was extremely inconsistent from game to game and even from half to half. If he starts off the game slowly, he will sometimes start thinking too much and get down on himself.

Sound familiar, don't it??

 

[Llcoolbay]

This video displays shows how much of a poor finisher he is, Good transition player though

Wiggins has Harrison Barnes Like Dribbles..If he has open space he is decent but crowded or tight Man to Man D and his handles tend to get loose like Barnes did, which is also preventing Barnes from taking that next step.

 

[Eye Cue DA COLI GAWD]

This video displays shows how much of a poor finisher he is, Good transition player though

Wiggins has Harrison Barnes Like Dribbles..If he has open space he is decent but crowded or tight Man to Man D and his handles tend to get loose like Barnes did, which is also preventing Barnes from taking that next step.

His touch and footwork around the rim is awful. Nikka also shys from contact.

 

[kash10003]

His first step is explosive. I found Kansas to be more explosive with him on the court but he has to be more aggressive

 

[CarltonJunior]

I agree with this 100% but I believe he will grow into a great two-way player someday. His skills on offense are straight up abysmal, he can get hot from 3 and has a dribble pull-up he's comfortable with, but that's all he has to offer at the moment. If he can work on his handle then he'll piece it all together, that said, I doubt he'll be the once-in-a-generation player he's supposed to be. I believe he'll someday be a better player than Parker and Embiid in certain aspects, but not a DOMINANT player in this league.

That said, I'm also of the belief that Smart will ravage this league, so don't listen to me

 

[We Ready]

:awumad:

 

[jaguar paw]

His handle is suspect, no go to moves except a predictable spin move, and struggles when forced left.

He'd be better off as a Cav because he would get most of points off cuts and transition. No need for him to try and create.

 

[intruder]

Cant say ive seen much of him but one minute they make it seem like dude is the 2nd coming of Darius Miles, the next minute they're hailing him as the next Kevin Durant.

Which one is it?

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

 

[QuarterCenturyLegend]

@Gil Scott-Heroin going in today

 

[mastermind]

Powerful :wowjb:

Brehs gonna be miserable when Wiggins turns into a superstar.

The Harrison Barnes comparisons

I'm just hoping for Wiggins to pull a Lebron in 6 years.