NBA 2014 Draft - Andrew Wiggins Overrated? More Doubts About His Game Have Risen; Should Teams Still Be Riggin' For Wiggins?

The biggest name of the NBA 2014 Draft is Andrew Wiggins. The incredibly athletic Canadian has earned the moniker "Maple Jordan" in reference to his country and the best player in the game. A title they believe he can get.

Andrew Wiggins is the most hyped basketball player since Lebron James. He has more hype than Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Kyrie Irving or Anthony Davis. But can he beat them all?

Why did they hype him so much anyway? Bleacher Report offers some answers. They compared the level of athleticism between all the small forwards in the league: "LeBron James stands alone, given the size, mass and strength he adds to it.

Other than James, Wiggins would sit in a tier along with Blake Griffin in terms of natural athleticism for a forward. I'd rank him as a top-three athlete amongst rotational 3s and 4s, assuming he adds a few pounds to his 6'8", 205-pound frame between now and 2014."

However, most people feel that he has failed to live up to the hype even at the lower level-college basketball. While he is undoubtedly a marked man whom opposing coaches design their entire defense for, they can't help but be underwhelmed. From Forbes.com:

"This just in: Wiggins is slipping out of contention for No. 1-2. The NBA guys I talk to say that will be Parker and Kansas seven-footer Joel Embiid. At No. 3, Wiggins has yet to separate himself from Kentucky power forward Julius Randle, Australian point guard Dante Exum and, depending on whom you talk to, Arizona forward Aaron Gordon.

Wiggins, a 6-8 small forward, is blessed with fabulous athleticism and length but often drifts, or as scouts say, "Motor?" He has a "loose handle" with a high dribble and drives in straight lines, making it hard to get past defenders ("doesn't beat you off the bounce") and create his own shot, a make-or-break skill for NBA superstardom.

As special as Wiggins is physically, he now amounts to a super-athletic project. The intangibles that will decide, like coachability and hunger, are harder to judge... but drifting is a red flag, raising the question of how natural, or important, it is to stand out. It's not something that came up with Kyrie, AD or Blake, to say nothing of the young KD, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant."

While it's true that athletic players will often catch attention: All the first overall picks from 2008, except (maybe Kyrie Irving but most people would consider him athletic) from Derrick Rose to Anthony Davis are known to have outstanding hops.

It would be a stretch to say that Andrew Wiggins would not be better than these players in high school. Perhaps only Anthony Davis would be a worthy pick over Wiggins, and that's primarily because of his defensive skills. Any team with a scoring void (like most lottery bound teams) would never pass up Wiggins in favor of Davis. Derrick Rose was not so spectacular in his lone college year. That's why he was 2nd in the draft board months before the draft with Michael Beasley at the top.

Wiggins is a pro athlete and he does not show it in college because college is not the pros. It has an entirely different dynamic. That's why all is not lost for Maple Jordan. 

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nba 2014 draft
Andrew Wiggins
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