Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins hopes to play for Canada at some point

“As you can see, they didn’t need me to win those games,” Wiggins said. “They were hooping, playing good together, playing as a team, playing like they wanted to win. Everyone brought their own thing to the table, they brought a lot.”

More pressing is the Timberwolves’ season that is off to a rocky start with star Jimmy Butler demanding to be traded and then reportedly going on a rant against head coach Tom Thibodeau and Wiggins, among others, at the team’s first practice of the season.

“People are exaggerating a lot of the stuff,” said Wiggins, who says he and Butler have always been cool. “Even when people say I was involved. Nothing happened to me. I was just playing basketball. That problem, I think, is resolved. Whatever that problem is, is resolved.”

Wiggins missed just his second game over his five seasons in the NBA when he was held out against the Raptors on Wednesday night. He suffered a right thigh contusion in the first quarter of the Timberwolves’ 101-91 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Monday.

“It’s unfortunate. He did all he could to try to get ready to play,” Thibodeau said. “He is feeling better but we also don’t want to take any chances with it. Hopefully he’ll be better tomorrow.

“Obviously being from here, he tried to do all that he could. It just didn’t work out.”

Thibodeau said the No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 NBA draft is off to a great start this season. Wiggins is averaging 15.8 points, two assists and 1.3 steals per game after four contests.

“He got nicked up right at the beginning of the last game but his aggressiveness has been very good thus far,” said Thibodeau. “I’ve mentioned this many times, people tend to measure things statistically, like by points scored, and I thought he had a terrific year last year and his scoring went down but the winning went up.”

Wiggins averaged 23.6 points per game in the 2016-17 season but the Timberwolves were 31-51, 13th in the Western Conference. In the next campaign Wiggins’s scoring average dropped to 17.7 as Minnesota improved to 47-35 and earned a post-season berth.

“I think that he impacted winning far greater last year than he did when he scored more points and we were losing,” said Thibodeau. “The winning is the most important thing, I don’t think anyone could lose sight of that.”

The Raptors (4-0) will be looking to start a season with five straight wins for just the second time. Minnesota (2-2) has won both of its games against Eastern Conference opponents this season.

___

Follow @jchidleyhill on Twitter

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins hopes to play for Canada at some point

What's Trending