Andrew Wiggins agrees to a four-year, $109 million contract extension with the Golden State Warriors

In the latest sign that the Golden State Warriors don’t want to break up their core, All-Star forward Andrew Wiggins has agreed to a four-year, $109 million contract extension. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the contract includes player option in the last season. Wiggins, 28, is sure to be under contract through the 2025-26 season, but an additional player option gives him a spot to stay in the Bay Area through 2027 if he chooses.

Wiggins averaged 17.2 points per game and became an NBA All-Star for the first time in his career, helping the Warriors win the NBA Finals in the 2022 season and establishing his balance with the team.

Wiggins was set to become a free agent at the end of the 2022-23 NBA season, but few believed the Warriors would ever let their two-way wing hit the market. This extension was expected, but until Wiggins signs on the dotted line, you can never be too sure.

For the Warriors, it’s the second $100 million deal they’ve made today. Golden State also agreed to a four-year, $140 million extension with Jordan Poole on Saturday morning, keeping another piece of their championship core together for the foreseeable future. Wiggins will be 31 when his last contract expires.

While getting Wiggins under contract for a few more seasons is something to celebrate in the short term, it just raises more red flags in the long run. Golden State now faces a A $483 million dollar bill during the 2023-24 season with the current players they have on their payroll.

Obviously, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson aren’t going anywhere, so you do the math. Fresh off new contracts, Poole and Wiggins also look secure. Draymond Green? That could end up being a different story.

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Andrew Wiggins has made great strides with the Warriors

It’s been one hell of a ride since becoming the No. 1 overall pick in 2014. Wiggins could always get buckets when he wanted them. It’s just that desire and consistency weren’t always evident early in his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wiggins was always deserving of a starting role, and he was the best option, but he offered very little else.

That has completely changed since being traded to the Warriors in the D’Angelo Russell deal at the 2019-20 NBA trade deadline.

Wiggins has since turned into one of basketball’s best two-way players, and his defensive consistency has been praised more than his scoring ability. He always had talent, like Jimmy Butler liked to remindand he had length and athleticism, but putting it all together was a challenge for a young player in an atmosphere that never knew how to win.

Now Wiggins is averaging slightly more rebounds, blocking more shots and even shooting a much higher percentage than he ever did in Minnesota. The former Kansas Jayhawk deserves plenty of credit for his latest extension, and if Wiggins continues to work on his game as he has throughout his career, it won’t be his last big basketball contract.

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