5 years of 47 million yuan in a bargain price! How strong is the Thunder substitute Aaron Wiggins?

Preseason, the defending champion Thunder defeated the Hornets 135-114.

To be cruel, the Hornets' core players included three goals, Brandon Miller, and Miles Bridges all played, but the Thunder directly gave up Alexander, Jewy, Homegren, Dort, Harten and Caruso a set of championship starters + the best sixth-man lineup.

In this way, the Thunder still pressed the Hornets to the ground to rub, and never let their opponents lead once in the game. They led by 23 points in the first half and led by 29 points at most. Even in the preseason where the victory or defeat has nothing to do with it, it would be too crazy to beat like this. In this game, Aaron Wiggins exploded.

Due to the absence of all the main cores, Wiggins started in this game. He opened fire in the first quarter, making 6 of 8 shots in a single quarter, scoring 13 points.

Wigkins still performed well in the second quarter, giving away 7 points and 4 assists in a single quarter. At the end of the half, he had already scored 20 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists.

Wikins only played for 24 minutes in three quarters, making 10 of 14 shots, 2 of 4 three-pointers, 1 of 1 free throw, scoring 23 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists.

Note that Wiggins' plus or negative value in this game is as high as +23, the team ranked first. In other words, in less than 24 minutes when he was not present, the Thunder also lost 2 points to the Hornets.

Although Wiggins is just a substitute, I believe that Thunder fans and Thunder's opponents know how outstanding he is.

Take last season for example. Wiggins played in a total of 76 regular season games, averaging 12.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 48.8%/38.3%/83.1% in three events, and a real shooting percentage of 59.6%.

Wiggins is 1.96 meters tall, has good athletic ability, explosive power, and flexibility. He has the ability to hold the ball and attack, and is also good at conversion and empty cuts. He can also provide outside shooting.

As a substitute, his scoring efficiency is quite good. He averaged 12.0 points per game last season, which is equivalent to 18.9 points per game per 36 minutes.

The fact is that as long as you give enough playing time and opportunity, Wiggins can return the data - Alexander missed 6 games last season, and Wiggins averaged 24.7 points per game in these 6 games.

The last three regular season games were locked in first place, and the Thunder's main players rested, and then Wiggins started all of them. His performance:

--versus the Suns, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists,

--versus the Jazz, 35 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists,

--versus the Pelicans, 28 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists,

These three games are not the best. In a game against the Kings in February, Javi was absent, Wiggins started, and then made 16 of 30 shots, 6 of 14 three-pointers, and scored 41 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 assists. This is also Wiggins' career night.

To say more, the NBA on this day should belong to Wiggins, but on the same day, the Mavericks sent Doncic to the Lakers, so...

Back to Wiggins, it's a bit of a pity that due to the shortening of rotation and the increase in main players in the playoffs, his average playing time was reduced to 13.6 minutes, but with limited opportunities, his performance was still remarkable:

——First round against the Grizzlies, G1 Thunder won 51 points, and the game entered garbage time early, so Wiggins played 26 minutes, and then scored the team's highest 23 points

—From the Nuggets in the second round, Wiggins G2 scored 10 points and 5 rebounds, G4 scored 11 points and 6 rebounds. The Nuggets were both behind and equalized. In the seventh game, they scored 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, filling the data column

- In the finals, against the Pacers, Wiggins transformed into a surprise, scored 18 points and 4 rebounds in a single game. In the battle of Kings Mountain, Wiggins once again scored 14 points and 5 rebounds on the bench, helping the team win

The entire playoffs, Wiggins averaged 13.8 minutes per game and scored 6.0 points and 2.3 rebounds. He scored 5 times in double digits, all of which were behind in the team's big score or were playing in a decent manner. All of the Thunder won in these 5 games.

It is no exaggeration to say that with Wiggins' level, it is not a big problem to play a starting role in a weak team. Even in an ordinary strong team, he is at least a sixth-man role who averages 25+ minutes per game.

But in the Thunder, he can only be a substitute who averages less than 23 minutes per game, which indirectly proves how strong the Thunder's rotation depth is - don't forget that they still have a large number of draft picks, and their core age is basically no more than 30 years old, and they truly have both present and future.

There are two more things that must be mentioned about Wiggins.

First, he is the 55th pick in the second round of 2021. It would be great if players in this position can truly enter the NBA. Wiggins has now gained a foothold in the Thunder, holds the championship, and plays an important role.

The second is that during the 2024 offseason, Aaron Wiggins renewed his contract with the Thunder. The contract is only 47 million in 5 years, and it is a decreasing contract. The annual salary last season is 11.19 million, and the annual salary in the 2028-29 season is 7.99 million, which is simply a bargain.

For Thunder, this contract renewal will definitely make a fortune, and it can also help Thunder relieve subsequent salary pressure. Therefore, Wiggins' future in Thunder is actually very stable, and there will definitely be no transactions in the short term.

For Wiggins, this summer, he has terminated his contract with his former agent and then joined the famous sports agency CAA (Paul, Booker, George, Halliburton, Towns, Mitchell, etc.). The starting point is self-evident, but the next big contract may take four years later.