Earlier this week, we dug into what Zach LaVine was up to this summer. And to absolutely nobody’s surprise, the dude has been putting in work.
While you were reading that, you might have thought to yourself, ‘what about his Bounce Bro, Andrew?’
Ah, yes. Bounce Brother Andrew Wiggins. The 2015 Rookie of the Year. A non-friend of Rudy Gobert.
Well, luckily for you, we have the answers.
We chatted with Wiggins at Summer League in Las Vegas about what specific things he was working on.
“I’m working on everything,” Wiggins said. “I’m trying to improve my ball handling, improve my shooting. Those are two of those most important things I’m doing this summer.”
(He did not discuss his hair, which are hoping to chat about in another interview down the line. We’ll keep you updated.)
Like LaVine, Wiggins is working with trainer Drew Hanlen. Hanlen revealed to our close and personal friend, Timothy Parachka, that Wiggins has been following Hanlen around this offseason. Not in a creepy way, either.
Wiggins is obviously way ahead of most 21-year-old players right now, but if there was a knock on him, it would be his ball handling and shooting.
Judging by some of the workouts he’s been doing, improvement is coming, which has to be scary for the rest of the NBA.
In almost all the clips, Wiggins is working on his ball handling and then reacting on what the defender does before he decides whether he pulls up from deep, steps up and pulls up, or drives to the bucket.
This clip gives me the chills. Kobe Bryant retired, but his moves live on.
I can’t wait until the Wolves play the Suns and Brandon Knight gets switched on Wiggins. And then Wiggins does this. Poor, Brandon.
There’s a good chance Wiggins improves on his 31 percent from the 3-point line last season.
Wiggins isn’t as vocal as LaVine. And that’s fine. But don’t confuse that for him not being super competitive, because he is. Very much so.
“It bothered him last year, one, that the Wolves weren’t in the playoffs and two, that he wasn’t an All-Star,” Hanlen said. “The No. 1 focus (is that) Andrew feels like the Wolves can make the playoffs this year. No. 2, Andrew wants to solidify himself as one of the top players in the league.”
If No. 1 happens, chances are it was because No. 2 happened.
He’s going to continue to get better. He’s making sure of it. And with players doing the same around him on the roster, that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the Western Conference.