Andrew Wiggins is making The Leap, giving the Wolves their own Big 3

Andrew Wiggins made a promise to Minnesota Timberwolves’ owner Glen Taylor that he’d commit to improving as an all-around player before signing a $147 million contract extension. It was a gamble for Minnesota, who’d seen Wiggins shine as a scorer but contribute minimally as a rebounder (four per game) and playmaker (two assists per game).

Three games into the season, he’s following through on his promise. Wiggins is finally beginning to capitalize on the athleticism that had his name among the ranks of LeBron James coming into the league four years ago.

Wiggins is reaping all the benefits of playing next to a handful of new All-Star talents in Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, and of course Karl-Anthony Towns. Think of Wiggins in a Klay Thompson-like position of being a good player surrounded by even better players. The attention elsewhere is freeing him to play at his best.

At 25 points per game and six rebounds, Wiggins is finally looking the part of a franchise superstar. His game-winner at the buzzer to beat Oklahoma City reinforces just that.

Will he keep it up?

Since he won Rookie of the Year in 2015, Wiggins’ game has remained largely stagnant in all ways that don’t involve him putting the ball in the hoop. His rebounding numbers have dropped since his first year in the league, and he averaged fewer assists than Nik Stauskas last year.

The lack of development in his floor game was one of a few reasons Minnesota didn’t make a playoff leap last season. The Timberwolves needed another playmaker next to Ricky Rubio, a lockdown defender on the wing, and another body to run the fast break off defensive boards. Wiggins couldn’t fill those shoes.

But in his fourth season, we’re finally starting to see more aggressive play from Wiggins, especially on the glass:

So what’s made Wiggins look so good?

The redundancy of Butler and Wiggins as similar-sized wings was supposed to make for some tricky adjustments within the Timberwolves offense to start the season. Instead, they’ve meshed seamlessly. Butler and Wiggins have found success playing decoy for one other and locating each other for open shots.

It’s a struggle to defend both Wiggins and Butler because opponents can’t give either room to fire. For weaker defensive teams, that means double-teams are coming, which is something Butler is used to from his time in Chicago.

With Wiggins camping out on the opposite end of the arc, a dribble away from the swarming defense means an open spot-up opportunity for Wiggins:

As well as Wiggins has played, he’s not yet the complete player Butler is. He’s just 22 years old, after all. That means Butler is drawing the head-to-head matchups with a motor like Andre Roberson’s, while Wiggins defends a more stationary shooter like Carmelo Anthony. On the other end, Butler takes the top perimeter threat, while Wiggins can handle a secondary playmaker.

That switch goes a long way in improving Wiggins rebounding numbers. Defending the ball less, Wiggins is able to slouch toward the rim off his man after the shot goes up. His focus isn’t on stopping the ball as much; it’s now on securing it:

It isn’t championship time yet for Minnesota, but with Wiggins improving, the team may have a real Big 3 brewing. That’s important given that the Timberwolves coughed up a lot of money based off a promise of improvement from Wiggins.

We weren’t sure if Wiggins could elevate his game to this level. He didn’t show a commitment to improving on his deficiencies in each of his last three seasons, and his team failed to improve with him. But if Wiggins can maintain his all-around growth, the Wolves are right on schedule.

The Jimmy Butler-Andrew Wiggins experiment is off to a good start.