With Oklahoma City moving out from two collective picks following their second-round selection of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, the Thunder’s once seen as “useless” pick garnered held serious value. They made do of that situation, selecting Maryland wing Aaron Wiggins.
Wiggins rose into NBA consideration after dominating the NBA G-League Combine and impressed in the NBA Combine as a late acquisition to the combine’s player pool.
Wiggins is a solid project piece as a 3&D wing. At 6-foot-7, Wiggins showed in spurts he could his own at multiple positions at the college level, though his strong suit clearly comes facing two-and-three guards. As a three-point shooter, Wiggins shot 35.2% last year off of five attempts per contest.
At the current draft position, Aaron Wiggins was a steal — especially when you take a look at Oklahoma City’s recent history. The Thunder have had an infatuation with molding 3&D wings through the draft, whether it was taking a shot at Terrance Ferguson, or trying to iron out a shooting stroke with Andre Roberson or Josh Huestis. The common denominator with these three names is Oklahoma City utilized a first-round pick to nab them. Wiggins fits the Thunder’s “archetype”, and instead of being taken early, he almost slipped out of the draft entirely.
Wiggins will likely fill a large void in the Oklahoma City Blue’s roster on assignment. Though unconfirmed, if guard Melvin Frazier Jr., another 3&D wing, goes in a different direction this offseason, someone will need to step up. Aaron Wiggins should be that guy.
He joins the Oklahoma City Thunder roster as not just their oldest draft selection, but at 22-years-old — he’s more seasoned than six of the Thunder’s presumptive returning players in Jaylen Hoard, Josh Hall, Aleksej Pokusevski, Lu Dort, Darius Bazley, and Theo Maledon.