Finals Shock! How strong is Aaron Wiggins this season?

G2 in the finals, the Thunder defeated the Pacers 123-107 at home.

In this game, five players in the Thunder team scored 15+ points, among which three core members, Alexander, Jewish and Chett, scored 34 points, 19 points and 15 points respectively, with a total of 46 shots and 68 points, which is much more efficient than the 58 shots and 61 points in the previous game.

However, the Thunder won not only by starting, but also Caruso scored the second highest 20 points on the bench, and a very unexpected figure, Aaron Wiggins became the surprise.

Wikins only played 20 minutes in the whole game, 6 of 11 shots, 5 of 8 three-pointers, 1 of 2 free throws, and scored 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.

Thunders can widen the score gap in this game mainly in the second quarter, playing 33-21 in a single quarter. In this quarter, Wiggins made 3 of 4 shots in a single quarter and scored 8 points; in the second half, Wiggins' touch was still hot. He made a three-pointer in the first offensive round when he was replaced in the third quarter;

Witkins was still in the middle of the game, and he made three-pointers twice, directly extinguishing the Pacers' counterattack momentum. What is the roughly concept of

? In this game, the Thunder team has the highest positive and negative values, not Alexander, nor Jewish, Chett or Caruso, but Wiggins, reaching +24, which is equivalent to the 28 minutes he is not present, and the Thunder also lost 7 points to the Pacers.

Of course, the plus and negative values ​​of a game cannot be explained too much, but Wiggins in this game is indeed worthy of praise. For comparison, before G1, he only played for 9 minutes, made 1 of 2 shots, and scored 3 points.

Going forward, the Western Conference Finals faced the Timberwolves. In five games, Wiggins played in four of them, shooting 3 of 11 shots and scoring 7 points.

In other words, Wiggins' G2 scored more than his previous five games combined, and nearly double the number.

sounds a bit exaggerated, but objectively speaking, Wiggins has the ability to be such a surprise weapon, because he has staged magical moments many times this season.

This season's regular season, Wiggins has taken 76 games, averaging 12.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. The shooting percentages of the three events are 48.8%/38.3%/83.1%, and the real shooting percentage is 59.6%.

Note that Wiggins' playing time is only 22.9 minutes. If converted to every 36 minutes, he averages 18.9 points per game - a simple conversion is not completely accurate, but at least it shows that Wiggins' scoring ability is indeed strong.

The fact is that as long as the football rights are given, Wiggins can convert it into scores. A good example is that in the 6 games Alexander missed this season, Wiggins averaged 24.7 points per game, including the main players' rest in the last three games of the season, Wiggins scored 17 points, 35 points and 28 points respectively.

In addition, in the game against the Kings during the season, Wiggins also made 16 of 30 shots, 6 of 14 three-pointers, scored 41 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists, and he is also the sixth player in the Thunder's history to win 40+ games in a single game - a month earlier than Javier.

Therefore, Thunder fans gave him a very interesting nickname - not Alexander or Alexander, but Alexander, which shows that his scoring ability is really strong.

After entering the playoffs, Wiggins' playing time decreased, with only 13.6 minutes and his score also decreased to 6.6 points, but his performance in the first two rounds was actually quite good:

- facing the Grizzlies G1 in the first round, the Thunder won 51 points, Wiggins played happily, playing 26 minutes in a single game, scoring 21 points, the team's highest

- playing against the Nuggets in the second round, G2 and G4, Wiggins scored 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 three-pointers, 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 three-pointers, respectively. The Thunder successfully won both games, and they equalized the big score. It is very critical that the reason why the playing time in the playoffs is actually related to Wiggins' style of play.

Aron Wiggins is 1.96 meters tall and has an wingspan of 2.07 meters. He is a wing with excellent running and jumping ability and scoring ability. He has multi-dimensional offensive skills, and has three-pointers, mid-range shots, breakthroughs and off-ball offense. When he is in good condition, almost no one can stop him from scoring.

But his offensive choice and stability need to be improved. He prefers his own offense than passing. Moreover, because he is light in weight, he is not outstanding enough in confrontation, which determines that he cannot fight against heavy outside players and will suffer losses in high-end games. There are many players like Wiggins in history, most of which are positioned as the sixth player in the team, and some of them will become weak teams and starters on the playoffs. The characteristics of players like

will often break out in some low-end games, and the playoffs may decline, but they may also suddenly break out and become surprises. Just like in this finals G2, Wiggins has 18 points in a single game, which is higher than any one in the Pacers team on the opposite side.

It is worth mentioning that Wiggins is also a player chosen and trained by the Thunder himself, and he is just a rookie with 55 picks.

In the 2021 draft, Wiggins was selected by the Thunder with the 55th pick. After joining the Thunder, he signed a two-way contract at the beginning. After only half a season, he transferred the contract to the right. The first official contract was 6.4 million in 4 years, expired in 2025, and the team options for the last year.

With such a cabbage contract, Wiggins gradually became one of the most reliable scoring points on the Thunder bench. Last season, he averaged 6.9 points per game in 15.7 minutes per game, and his shooting percentages in the three events were as high as 56.2%/49.2%/78.9%, and his real shooting percentage was 66.4%.

In the 2024 offseason, the Thunder did not execute Wiggins' last-year team option, and then provided him with a five-year contract of 47 million. Note that this contract is still a decreasing contract. Except for the annual salary of 10.5 million this season, all the remaining four years are less than 10 million, and the last year is still the team option.

Many people may not understand what this concept is. Four years later, the 2028-29 season, the maximum salary contract will be close to 80 million. The Thunder's sixth man is at its peak at 30 years old. He can contribute 10 points per game in 20 minutes, and then his annual salary is less than 8 million. If you think about it this way, you can probably understand how amazing the sustainability of the Thunder is, not to mention that they have enviable draft picks.

Back to the finals, Wiggins' explosion also reminds everyone again that it is not only the Pacers who have long rotations and excellent lineup depth, but the Thunder are also the same. They also have Alexander, who has a stronger superstar appearance - it seems that the Pacers have won the home advantage 1-1, but the Thunder are still the stronger side. G3, what response can the Pacers who look forward to returning to the home court?