After going through plenty of ups and downs with the Minnesota Timberwolves, former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins found himself being traded to the Golden State Warriors before the 2020 February NBA trade deadline. To address the logjam in their backcourt, the Warriors sent D’Angelo Russell to the Timberwolves in exchange for Wiggins and a future first-round selection. Unfortunately, though he is expected to fill the huge hole in the Warriors’ wing, some people don’t see Wiggins staying long in Golden State .
In a recent article, Preston Ellis of Bleacher Report included Wiggins in the list of NBA players who are most likely to be traded in the 2020 NBA offseason. Wiggins may be a better fit in Golden State than Russell but with the Warriors aiming to immediately return to title contention, they would be needing help from a more established superstar who would complement their core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. According to Ellis, the Warriors may consider including Wiggins and multiple first-round picks in the trade package to “bring back a big fish” in the summer of 2020.
“We’re not buying the ‘can a stable organization unlock Andrew Wiggins?’ talk. The Golden State Warriors needed Minnesota’s top-three-protected 2021 pick to add to this year’s GSW first to bring back a big fish. Someone better suited to bring Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green back into win-now mode. The Warriors aren’t using those picks. By early March, each of that threesome will be at least 30 years old. Their window is closing. Andrew Wiggins is just for salary-matching purposes.”
It wouldn’t really be a surprise if the Warriors decided to move Wiggins again in the 2020 NBA offseason. Though he has already shown improvements with his performance in the 2019-20 NBA season, Ellis believes that Wiggins’ skill set doesn’t fit with the Warriors’ system. Wiggins’ massive contract may be a huge turnoff for potential trade partners next summer but a deal could be made possible if the Warriors would be willing to sacrifice their own 2020 first-round pick, which is expected to be a top-three selection, and the pick they got from the Timberwolves.
As Ellis noted, some of the potential trade targets for the Warriors in the summer of 2020 include Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards, Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic, and Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans. If the Warriors succeed to swap Wiggins for an established superstar, they would, no doubt, become a team to fear in the Western Conference once again in the 2020-21 NBA season.