Aaron Wiggins had to wait until the 55th pick before he was selected in the 2021 draft. The Thunder offered him a two-way deal and he wasn’t necessarily thrilled at the prospect, he told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears.
“We’re sitting there watching the draft and there was a lot of mixed emotions,” Wiggins said. “The second round started. There were a couple [draft] spots with teams that I thought I had good workouts with and I’m expecting to possibly be drafted and don’t get drafted. Then late in the second round, I get a call from my agent saying the Thunder are drafting me and want to sign a two-way [contract]. I wasn’t necessarily upset. I was happy and grateful to be blessed, but I wasn’t happy either. So, I was just glad to have heard my name and know that I was being given an opportunity.”
Wiggins has done the most with that opportunity. He eventually had the two-way converted to a standard deal and last summer he signed a five-year, $57MM contract. He appeared in 76 regular-season games, though his playing time has dropped in the postseason.
“I’m just doing the same thing I’ve done for the last couple of years,” Wiggins said. “Trust in our coaching staff. Buying into the team first and understand that success will come. I trust in that and want to win first, celebrate my teammates and everything will work its way out.”
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- In their latest pre-draft workout on Tuesday, the Trail Blazers looked at Cameron Hildreth (Wake Forest), Ben Gregg (Gonzaga), Jamiya Neal (Arizona State), Mohamed Diawara (Cholet), Caleb Grill (Missouri) and Damari Monsanto (UTSA), Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report tweets. Grill, ranked No. 74 on ESPN’s Best Available list, heads that group of potential second-round selections.
- How can the Trail Blazers upgrade their roster? Yossi Gozlan of Thirdapron.com believes there are several approaches they could take (subscription required). They could add another frontcourt player to give them additional size and seek an upgrade at guard if they don’t think Scoot Henderson will ever live up to his draft status. They could also seek out a young player with high upside on a low-cost contract, similar to what they did last season when they acquired Deni Avdija from Washington.
- Darius Garland might be an ideal backcourt partner for Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star Tribune opines. Garland would be the type of combo guard who could unlock more of Edwards’ two-way potential while taking pressure off him offensively, according to Rand. Garland has three years and approximately $126.5MM remaining on his contract.