Kurtenbach: Unlocking Andrew Wiggins will come at a cost to the Warriors

How much longer can the Warriors ignore the evidence?

As much as this Warriors season has become about developing the team’s young players, it’s also about getting the most out of veteran Andrew Wiggins.

If the Warriors are ever going to compete for a championship again, they’re going to need the wing to turn into a consistent performer — someone who can give the Warriors more games like we saw Friday night in Memphis where he scored 40 points to lead a shorthanded Golden State team to a win.

But if the Warriors want to get the most out of Wiggins, they’re going to need less James Wiseman.

Yeah, that’s a pretty heavy conflict.

But this point, the evidence is undeniable. Yes, things could improve in the final weeks of the season (the playoffs start in 59 days), it’s far more likely that the Warriors will have to make a choice between the present and the future.

It’s more than fair to say that Wiggins has been a conundrum for his entire career. The Warriors’ wing is an exceptionally talented player — one that was the best high-school prospect in America and a first overall pick in the NBA Draft — but his unaffected attitude mixed with play that is far-too-often passive creates an inherent frustration from those who have seen the flashes of that his talent.

Wiseman is a 19-year-old who had a similar pedigree to Wiggins from the prep ranks, but who also boasted only one viable college basketball game under his belt before entering the league. It’s not at all surprising that amid every moment of unteachable brilliance he’s shown against full-grown men, there have been two or three mistakes.

Both are viewed as part of the Warriors’ core for what they hope is a championship run.

But the two only seem to play well when the other isn’t around.

The Warriors have played 400 minutes with Wiseman and Wiggins on the floor together this season. In those minutes, the Warriors score 96 points per 100 possessions with a net rating of minus-12.3.

That’s the worst offensive two-man unit in the NBA this season, and the worst duo, according to net rating, on any team that’s seriously competing for a playoff spot.

It makes sense that a wing that can be too passive, who can overthink, combined with a center who doesn’t yet know what to do and who isn’t a clean fit in a ball-movement-heavy offense would create issues for the Dubs.

The real question is what Golden State is going to do about it.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr could change his offense, making it a heavier pick-and-roll attack with Wiseman on the floor, but that would relegate Wiggins to a catch-and-shoot role in the corner. That’s ok, but it’s not Wiggins’ game — he shoots 37 percent on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers — and it locks in his passive mindset.

The Warriors could use Wiseman as a high-post pivot in the motion offense, a la Andrew Bogut in his heyday, but Wiseman isn’t much of a passer at the moment and that’s a tall ask for him to become one anytime soon.

So I wonder if the Warriors will start to take note of their performances when they have been without Wiseman — leaving them lacking a true center — this season and how much better Wiggins has played in those games.

Unlock Wiggins, unlock the Warriors at their best.

But that means leaving Wiseman on the bench.

Now, old-school basketball minds will say that size matters come playoff time, when rebounding and rim protection are paramount. The Warriors will need Wiseman — if not this year then next year and in the years to come — those folks will allege.

But I don’t know if that’s still applicable to the NBA in 2021, much less 2022 and beyond.

After all, the sport has changed so much in such a short period of time.

The Warriors led the NBA in 3-point shot attempts in their 73-win regular season, chucking 31 shots from distance per game. This season, 31 3-point attempts per game is good for 24th in the league.

And while it’s still important to get to and score at the basket, teams are so spaced out in an effort to put up those 3-pointers that you often see traditional big men floating in no-man’s land on defense. That’s cool if you’re do-it-all Anthony Davis, but you’ll see what will happen with Rudy Gobert come playoff time.

There are still the exceptional big men — Davis, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokić — but their games are stunningly perimeter-based as well and they have offensive and defensive systems built around them and their skills.

Consciously or not, the Warriors’ 3-point revolution ushered in an era of smallball around the NBA. Their nemesis for those dynastic years, the Houston Rockets, took it to a new level last season, going with “The Tuck Wagon”, six-foot-five PJ Tucker, as their “center” in a five-behind-the-line offense built to create adequate spacing for James Harden and Russell Westbrook (remember them?) to drive and kick.

A similar system would work for the Warriors. It has worked for the Warriors.

Right now, the Warriors are a team with an idealistic offense that, when clicking, like on Friday night, can create beautiful, winning basketball. And that offense rarely clicks with Wiseman on the floor.

And defensively, the Warriors are just as good without a center on the court as with one; offensively, it’s night-and-day.

They’re a squad with a point guard who wants room to operate off-ball, a power forward who is running point and operates better with an open floor, and two wings — one who is certainly part of the team’s long-term vision — who prefer the dunker’s spot to be unoccupied, allowing them to cut, drive, and pull-up should the occasion call for it.

Can Golden State find a way to overcome the conflict? Can they find a way to maximize Wiggins while developing Wiseman?

The answers to those questions will go a long way to defining the Warriors this season and perhaps next.