James Harden rightfully led Monday night’s headlines with his second triple-double of the season and a virtual ankle-breaking move on Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio. After all, there’s a reason Harden appears to be the league’s probable MVP.
But rookie swingman Andrew Wiggins served notice that he could very well challenge Harden and the NBA’s other elite players in the years ahead.
On the night of his 20th birthday, Wiggins notched the third 30-point game of his young career, scoring 30 points on 12-of-24 shooting from the field, including 4-of-7 on mid-range jumpers and 7-of-11 at the rim. Defensively, he grabbed 6 rebounds and, at times, played incredible defense on Harden.
“These are the games that as a competitor you look forward to,” said Wiggins, who will add Kevin Garnett as a veteran post presence and mentor starting Wednesday in Minnesota.
Wiggins matched up with Harden twice before in November and December, averaging 13 points and 2 rebounds in two losses. But Wiggins was a much improved player Monday, finding confidence in himself as the creator and lead option for the young Wolves (12-43) and keeping his overmatched team competitive in a tight road loss to Houston (38-18).
Wiggins also made himself more vocal, picking up his first career technical foul late in the third quarter. Before that, Wiggins had made 8-of-19 shots and didn’t shoot a free throw. Afterward, he scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, going 4-of-5 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
“I needed that,” Wiggins said of his technical. “I started to get some calls after I did. Before that, I did not get one call until the fourth quarter. I drove into the lane maybe seven times, six of them were fouls, but I’m a rookie, so…”
Wiggins remains a rookie in name after being selected No. 1 overall last June, but he’s not playing like it anymore. After shooting just over 40% from the field in his first two months, Wiggins is connecting at a 46.7% clip in 2015. He’s also scored 20 or more points in 11 of his 25 games in this calendar year — a decided improvement from seven such occurences in 30 games in 2014.
Corey Brewer spent his first two months of 2014-15 in Minnesota before being traded to the Rockets, giving him a front-row seat to watch Wiggins on a daily basis. After watching film of his former teammate before Monday’s game, he said he wasn’t surprised to see the improvement.
“He’s gotten better,” Brewer told SheridanHoops. “Each game, each week, each month he’s gotten better. I think he’s going to be really good in this league.
“If he keeps working, he can be one of the best players in this league.”
So, is he the Rookie of the Year?
“Of course,” Brewer said. “There’s no doubt about it. There’s nobody even close.”
WOULD PHILADELPHIA REALLY TRADE JOEL EMBIID?
While Wiggins appears to be developing into a franchise cornerstone, the picture isn’t as clear for rookie center Joel Embiid — Wiggins’ former teammate at Kansas and the No. 3 overall pick by Philadelphia last June.
Embiid, of course, still hasn’t made his NBA debut as he continues to rehab on a foot injury. But some reports have accused the seven-footer of becoming overweight in his time away from playing basketball games, and a new report from Mark Heisler at Forbes.com says the Sixers (12-44) were willing to trade Embiid for a top pick in the upcoming 2015 NBA Draft.
In an unnoticed development at last week’s trade deadline, the 76ers were still trying to trade up for a top pick in this draft, indicating a willingness to talk about Joel Embiid or any player on their team, an NBA source told Forbes.com.
Yes, that’s the Joel Embiid they drafted No. 3 overall last spring, after compiling the worst record and seeing the Cavaliers and Bucks jump ahead of them in the lottery.
As it turned out, the Sixers ended up dealing reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams instead, receiving a probable high-lottery pick from the Lakers via Phoenix.
It’s not that moving Embiid is senseless on paper. The Sixers, of course, already have a blossoming defensive anchor in Nerlens Noel, so they would be silly to close the door on all discussions.
That said, criticism of GM Sam Hinkie is mounting. Many around the league have grown weary of Philadelphia’s insistence on continuing to hit the “reset button” in trading established players for draft picks, as opposed to focusing exclusively on the development of the young players like Carter-Williams and Embiid that they’ve finally started to accumulate after multiple awful seasons.
If Heisler’s sources are accurate, Hinkie’s roster shuffling may be far from over in Philadelphia. And if another team picking high in this June’s draft decides they prefer Embiid over this year’s options, there might be a deal to be had closer to draft night.
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE NBA
Chris Bosh is likely to be released from the hospital soon, according to Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.
“We don’t know the exact date yet,” said Spoelstra, who expects Bosh’s release in the coming days “He’s getting a little bit better.”
Bosh, of course, was diagnosed late last week with blood clots in his lungs and will miss the rest of the season while being treated with blood thinners.
But so far, all signs point to Bosh making a full recovery. NBA commissioner Adam Silver attended Miami’s home game against Philadelphia on Monday and also expressed optimism on Bosh’s condition:
“I know it’s devastating for him but the great news is this is very treatable, this condition,” Silver said in an interview with Sun Sports, which broadcasts Heat games. “He’s going to be on medication for a while that’s going to dictate he can’t play for a certain number of months, but he’ll be back at full strength.”
Bosh averaged 21.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game this season with the Heat (24-31).
Michael Carter-Williams is set to make his Bucks debut when Milwaukee (31-25) hosts his former team on Wednesday night.
Carter-Williams, a point guard who was dealt by the Sixers amid their aforementioned quest for more draft picks, has been sidelined by a sprained right big toe since Milwaukee acquired him last Thursday. But he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his inactivity is about to end.
“I’ll be playing next game, Carter-Williams said. “I don’t know how many minutes I’ll be getting.”
Carter-Williams, who won the league’s Rookie of the Year award in 2013-14, is averaging 15 points, 7.4 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game this season. Considering Wednesday’s opponent is the team that traded him less than a week ago, he should be motivated to put together an inspired performance.
Speaking of traded-player reunions, Isaiah Thomas scored 21 points in his return to Phoenix and had a crucial 4-point play in the final minutes to lead Boston to the win.
Players are generally eager to show up their former teams, but there may have been even more at stake for Thomas, considering the scorched-earth campaign from Suns’ executives in branding the players they dealt away as “selfish”.
So after Thomas hit the big shot, he fittingly stared down the Phoenix bench for several seconds:
Thomas has scored 21 points in each of his first two games with the Celtics (21-33).
Ben DuBose is a veteran sports reporter who has followed the Houston Rockets and the NBA since Hakeem Olajuwon was Akeem Olajuwon. He writes for both SheridanHoops and ClutchFans, an independent Rockets blog. You can follow him on Twitter.