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MY ANDREW WIGGINS PLAYER BIO AND SCOUTING REPORT

Andrew Wiggins

Small Forward – 6′-8″ – 200lbs – Age – 19 – Kansas – FR.

Reach – 8’11 – Wingspan – 7’0 –  Max Vertical Jump – 44 inches

Season Averages: 17.1PPG – 6.0RPG – 1.5APG -44.8%FG-34.1%(3FG)-77.5%FT

Draft Projection – Top 3 – could go number #1

AP FORT HAYS ST KANSAS BASKETBALL S BKC T25 KS

(photo courtesy StandingOSports.com)

Strengths

An athletic freak! His dad played in the NBA and his mom won medals in track in the Olympics for Canada, so his DNA is scary good. When you combine his 6’8 frame, 7-foot wing span and a 44 inch vertical jump, it’s crazy what he can do athletically on the court. His coach at Kansas Bill Self said he has the quickest second jump he’s ever seen, meaning he has the ability to bounce up and down like a pogo stick on the offensive boards and beat guys to the rebound for easy put backs.

 

His transition game is outstanding. He quickly fills the lanes on a fast break, getting from one end of the floor to the other and throws down vicious dunks or can pull up for a soft jumper.

 

 
He already knows how to play defense and wants to. How many college kids can you say that about? He uses that great athletic ability on the defensive end to guard 2’s, 3’s and some 4’s. So he’s ready to contribute right away on the defensive side of the ball.

 

 
Shoots it well from the free throw line and his jump shot is good, not a great. His pull up “J’ is solid, as is his intermediate jumper and he has decent range.

 

 
Penetrates well, has a very quick first step and the alley-oop out of bounds play is tailor made for him.

 

 
High character kid and a student of the game.

 

Weaknesses

Must get stronger and add a few pounds to his frame.

 

 
His jump shot and his overall offensive game needs to be more consistent.

 

 
He can get lost in the shuffle out on the court at times because he needs to be more aggressive. Some teams are concerned that he’s too passive,that he doesn’t have that killer instinct or alpha dog mentality.

 

 

He needs to work on his ball handling which will allow him to attack the rim more in the half court set and make him a better passer. Going left off the dribble is a definite weakness.

 

 

With his athletic ability he should finish better around the rim. But that should come when he gets stronger.

 

 

Has good form on his jumper, but it needs to be more consistent, especially from beyond the arc.

 

 

Roda Thoughts:

Reminds me of a taller version of one of the best two-way players I’ve ever seen in the NBA, Sidney Moncrief. Others comparisons are to Tracy McGrady, Rudy Gay or Vince Carter.

 

 
It looked like he was figuring things out at the end of the season for Kansas as he stepped his game up when Joel Embiid went down with a back injury as he had games of 41p-8r vs West Virginia, 30p-8r vs Oklahoma St., 22p-7r vs Iowa St. and 19p-4r versus Eastern Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament.

 

 

But his final game at Kansas was a clunker. In the 3rd round of the NCAA tournament against Stanford he was held to just 4p-4r on 1 of 6 shooting from the field in a 60-57 loss to Stanford. That left some people wondering how could he disappear in the biggest game of the season? But he also showed his true character after the defeat saying, “I let a lot of people down. If I would have played better, we wouldn’t be in this situation, you know? I blame myself for this.”

 

 

He will need to become more consistent, aggressive and attack more on offense if he wants to reach that superstar level. But he has arguably the most upside/potential of anyone in this draft because of his athleticism, ability to play three positions, he already plays defense, is a hard worker, with a high basketball IQ and on top of all that is a good kid who will take well to coaching.

 

 

Wiggins is my favorite player in this draft and whichever team selects him is getting a future all-star and potentially a future superstar.

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NBA DRAFT LOTTERY COULD DETERMINE THE PLAYER AND COACH FOR THE CAVS

Tuesday night’s NBA Draft lottery is important in so many ways for the Cavs. First they’ll find out where they’ll be picking. They have a 1.7% chance of getting the first overall pick out of the number #9 spot. It has happened once before when the Bulls entered the lottery in the 9th spot and ended up winning the lottery in 2008 and selected Derrick Rose first overall. The Cavs also have a 2% chance of landing the second pick and a 2.4% chance of getting the third pick in the draft. That’s a 6.1% chance of moving up into the top three picks to have a shot at Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or Joel Embiid.

But don’t forget other teams could leap frog the Cavs and bump them back to 10th, 11th or 12th spot.  However in the history of the lottery, 81% of the time the team in the 9th spot has selected 9th. That’s what happens when you don’t have enough ping pong balls in the hopper.

The second reason Tuesday night’s draft lottery is so important is that potential coaching candidates will be watching to see where the Cavs end up picking in the lottery and that could have a major effect on whether or not a candidate would consider the Cavs. Remember the Lakers, Knicks, Jazz and Timberwolves all have coaching openings and are all in the lottery just like the Cavs.

David Griffin Photo 5-13-14

The third reason the lottery is important to the Cavs is it will allow them to set up their first interviews with the coaching candidates on their list. My sources tell me that the Cavaliers have not interviewed any coaches yet, but will start in earnest post lottery. The front office, led by new general manager David Griffin, reportedly has been putting together a coaching list and the traits they’re looking for in their next head coach.

My first choice remains current Iowa St. head coach Fred Hoiberg. But sources tell me he may not want to leave the college ranks for the NBA just yet.  However, if I’m the Cavs I make that phone call and have him tell me no before you scratch him off your list.

The other names the Cavs could be considering are Adrian Griffin, Alvin Gentry, Mike D’Antoni, Coach K., Tom Izzo, John Calipari, Alex Jenson, Lionel Hollins, Nate McMillan, Mark Jackson, Vinnie Del Negro, George Karl, and David Fizdale. Leave no stone unturned. I may be missing a candidate or two, but you get the idea. Put a huge list together; see who has the traits you’re looking for in your next head coach and then make a phone call and see if they’re interested.

So the wheels will be put in motion once the draft lottery is decided. G.M. David Griffin will be representing the Cavs on stage Tuesday, not Nick Gilbert. Here’s hoping some of Nick’s luck rubs off on Griff so he can bring back one of the top three picks. If he does, that would make the Cavs job extremely desirable to all of the potential coaching candidates!