Andrew Wiggins is one of the most complete and ready young players in the NBA, but for some this isn’t enough. He is a dominant paint player with a reliable mid-range shot and lockdown defence, but he has one thing supposedly missing. This is of course the three-point shot which has become more important over the last couple of the years due to offensive gurus such as Terry Stotts, Alvin Gentry and Mike D’Antoni stressing the necessity for perimeter based offences. Andrew Wiggins has not really got a three-point shot and many have called for him to improve this side of his game. He is certainly capable, but there is no need for him to become a perimeter gunner in my opinion.

These thoughts came to me after Mark Jackson said Steph Curry had ‘killed’ the game of Basketball. At first glance his comments appeared to be delusional and a summary of the bitterness he has towards the Warriors front office. He was however right, because Curry is an incredible three-point shooter everyone seems to think every player has to be like him. This shouldn’t be the case at all, Curry is a gifted shooter and it is pointless trying to match the Warriors gameplan as they cannot be beaten at their own game.

Sam Mitchell’s offence shouldn’t be criticised because it doesn’t give us 30 three-point attempts a night, it needs criticising because of the lack of floor spacing and ball movement. This is a key element to any kind of Anti-Sam Mitchell argument and one that needs to be made clear. Minnesota don’t have a single player who can shoot the three at a top-level so to build a team on that shot would be completely pointless. Minnesota need to develop their guys to be competent from the three-point line so they can space the floor and draw defenders out. The Atlanta Hawks are perhaps the perfect example of the direction this team need to take, all five of their starters ‘can’ shoot the three and this makes ball movement a lot more effective. The buck starts with the front office, they need to find a way to bring in a good three-point shooter to create good space. Kevin Martin was supposed to be that guy but he is playing the worst basketball of his career. Wiggins needs to actually develop a good jump shot before he takes more threes- it could really knock his confidence

This has to be next on the long list for Sam Mitchell, he is a great lockdown defender and he can get to the rim better than most guys in the League, he needs to be stepping out to shoot more jump shots. He shoots 35% on jumpers which is mediocre but remember that Minnesota do not run an offensive system- most of his shots will be contested because the Wolves do not force defences.to shift around. Even with this, he clearly does not have a good enough jump shot to become a three-point bomber and it is unlikely to see him ever reaching these heights. This is not a criticism of him, I watch every game for this team and he is only 20 years old, but people who want him to become Steph Curry are wanting to put a square peg in a round hole.

Andrew Wiggins is a great player and it is important we set him along the right path. We shouldn’t aspire to be any other team, we have our own group of players with unique skill sets and taking threes just because it worked for the Warriors isn’t intelligent. We no doubt need floor spacing but that will come gradually with the right additions. It would be a help to start guys like Damjan Rudez and Shabazz Muhammad more often as they are genuinely good three-point shooters who will open up space and create mid range looks that are open. Ball movement is the key and that comes with a system and a philosophy, Mitchell simply isn’t implementing that right now. Wiggins will eventually become a reliable three-point shooter and that is all the team requires, there is no point trying to turn him into Kyle Korver or Klay Thompson.

The future is bright, we need to get the right system for this group before doing anything drastic, some ball movement would be a start and an end to long contested twos wouldn’t exactly harm the team.