Wiggins believes franchise 'changes' led to decline in play

A lot was expected of Andrew Wiggins after the first overall pick joined the Minnesota Timberwolves via trade before his rookie campaign in 2014.

In the two seasons that followed his Rookie of the Year campaign, the Canadian increased his scoring and looked to be on the upswing.

But Wiggins, now 24, has failed to progress since signing a five-year, $148-million contract extension in October 2017, and he appears to be blaming his stagnancy on former T-Wolves head coach Tom Thibodeau.

"I can get better. There's always room for improvement. I feel like my first three years I was on the rise and getting better and better," Wiggins told Phil Mackey of SKOR North. "And then as changes were made, I feel like there was a little decline."

Minnesota hired Thibodeau in April 2016, bringing him on as both head coach and president of basketball operations. The former NBA Coach of the Year had a huge hand in the Timberwolves' acquisition of Jimmy Butler during the summer of 2017 ahead of Wiggins' fourth season.

Butler had played four seasons under Thibodeau with the Chicago Bulls and was cut from the same cloth as his former bench boss. But their brash, tough-love approach seemed to rub Wiggins the wrong way, specifically Thibodeau's outspoken coaching style.

"All the yelling and stuff, I feel, is not really going to change my mood," Wiggins said. "But when a coach comes at me and is real, and tells me the real, I feel like I respect that a lot more than anyone just yelling.

"I feel like anyone can yell, anyone can raise their voice, but not a lot of people can be real. So that goes a long way for me."

The Timberwolves traded Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers shortly into the 2018-19 campaign and relieved Thibodeau of his duties in January 2019. Ryan Saunders replaced him as head coach.

Wiggins, who is locked up through the 2022-23 campaign, averaged 18.1 points on a career-low 41.2% shooting from the floor last season.