BROOKLYN, USA– Oh, Canada.
Andrew Wiggins, a 6-8, 200-pound freshman forward from Kansas, became the second consecutive Canadian-born player to become the No. 1 pick overall in the NBA draft when he was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In doing so, the Cavs’ front office seemed willing to gamble on Wiggins’ enormous upside potential as opposed to the most established offensive power of Duke freshman forward Jabari Parker of Duke, who went No. 2 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Cavs debated over Wiggins and Parker for days before finalizing their choice in the last hours leading into the draft. There was a reported rift between Griffin, who preferred Parker, and owner Dan Gilbert, who wanted Wiggins. However, two hours before the draft started, Gilbert posted a photo of the team’s decision room on his Twitter account with the words: ”United and busy.”
Wiggins, who was born in Toronto and grew up in nearby Vaughn, made a fashion statement before the draft even started. He showed up at the Barclays Center here, wearing a specially designed black tuxedo jacket with a floral pattern. “We just wanted to do something different, really stand out, try to win it on both ends, the stylish points and to come No. 1,” Wiggins said.
The Cavs are a franchise in tradition that has won the lottery three straight times. The Cavs chose wisely two years ago when it selected Duke freshman guard Kyrie Irving, an likely 2016 Olympian, then made a major mistake last year when the Cavs chose 6-8 Canadian Anthony Bennett from UNLV, who was injured during he summer, showed up out of shape and made little impact. But Wiggins seems a much more polished product after averaging a Kansas school freshman-record 17.1 points. He became the best option for the Cavs once his 7-0 college teammate Joel Embiid, a game changing center from the Cameroon, suffered a stress fracture in his right foot shortly before the draft.
The Cavs now finally have some resources to finally turn the Cavs, who have floundered in the post -LeBron James era, back into a playoff team. Cleveland made a bold move when they hired David Blatt, a highly successful coach who played for Pete Carril at Princeton before developing his resume overseas. Most recently, he coached Russia to a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics and won the 2014 Euroleague championship when his undermannaed Maccabi Tel Aviv team upset Real Madrid in the finals. And they already are in negotiations to sign their All Star guard Kyrie Irving to a five year extension in an effort to stabilize their roster.
The Cavs have at least $25 million in salary-cap space and possibly more to make a long shot run at James, who started his career in his home state of Ohio and has informed the the Miami Heat earlier this week that he’s opting out of the final two years of his contract and will become a free agent in July. But more than likely they will focus on a major trade to acquire another All Star, center Kevin Love, who wants out in Minnesota.
Wiggins, not James, holds the key to Cleveland’s future. key. He has been referred to as genetically-gifted by the Canadian press. His father Mitchell was NBA player and his mother Marita-Payne Wiggins was an Olympic sprinter. Wiggins possesses the skills to be a star — a good jump shot, quick feet and a 44-inch vertical jump. One of the questions about him has been the lack of a killer instinct, based on his near invisible seven-point performance for the Jayhawks in a third round NCAA tournament loss to slower, less talented Stanford at St. Louis. But the 6-foot-8, 200-pound Wiggins said that won’t be a problem.
”I think I can be a great player,” he claimed. ”I think I can be one of the best.”
Wiggins should feel right at home with the Cavs. He played summer travel ball for Nike-sponsored CIA Bounce with Bennett and Cavs forward Tristan Thompson, giving this franchise a distinctive north-of-the-U.S.-border flavor, provided Thompson, the No. 4 pick overall in 2011, doesn’t become part of a trade when the Cavs attempt to find a center. Wiggins’ selection as the No. 1 highlights the progress Canadian basketball is making on the grass roots level.
“It opens doors for all the youth in Canada, it gives them hope,” Wiggins said. “Coming up when I was in Canada, I wasn’t ranked, I wasn’t known. I didn’t really have any offers or anything like that. I just kept my head straight, kept working on my game, and look where I am today.
“I just think it gives everyone in Canada hope that they can do the same thing and accomplish whatever I do. Because it’s possible if they work hard.”
Wiggins was the biggest star on arguably the biggest night ever for Canadian basketball. Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ont. and Michigan went eighth to the Sacramento Kings, while Tyler Ennis of Brampton, Ont. and Syracuse was selected 18th by the Phoenix Suns. Later, the Charlotte Hornets took Toronto’s 6-10 forward Dwight Powell of Stanford with the 45th pick.
Wiggins has been the poster child for Canadian basketball in the Pennsylvania-New York market ever since he showed up at a camp for young stars sponsored by Hoop Group as a ninth grader and wowed the scouting services. A Youtube video of him dunking as a 13 year old has almost five million views.
Wiggins wasn’t even supposed to graduate until this year, but he reclassified to the class of 2014 at Huntington Academy in West Virginia so he could sign with Kansas. Wiggins chose the Jayhawks over Kentucky and North Carolina. The talk of him being a one and done and possibly the No. 1 pick overall began shortly thereafter.
“Going to high school and college, the opportunity and possibility of going No. 1 came into talk,” Wiggins said. “And now I accomplished that, so it’s just a crazy feeling right now. I don’t even know how I feel. It doesn’t even feel real right now.”
It will as soon as Wiggins slips on the No. 21 Cavs’ jersey he was presented with when he met the Cleveland media Friday..
