The Warriors have this neat habit of developing players who spend elongated amounts of time in the Bay into the ideal versions of themselves. You can throw out a couple different examples - Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, even Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut - to support the thesis.

While these players obviously benefit mostly from their work ethic, natural skill and athleticism, there should be a lot of credit given to the culture in Golden State and their development staff. The system the team uses and the way their trainers work with the players is almost patently unique.

Andrew Wiggins is the latest player to come to Golden State and see his career start to do a 180. Going from a high-usage, inefficient, shoot-first scorer that many heralded as a bust, the Warriors have turned him into a key two-way player, seeing great improvements to not just his effort, but his joy for the game.

There are some who think Wiggins could even be an All-Star. Warriors swingman and top 75 player of all time Klay Thompson said on Instagram there’s “NO QUESTION he deserves it”. This emphatic response from Klay is of course warranted, as it’s part of the gig to support his teammates. But is he right? More likely than you may think.

There are 47 players in the NBA currently scoring 18 or more points per game. Wiggins ranks 46th with 18.7, but he ranked better than others in a few more categories. He ranks 12th in field goal percentage and 3rd in three-point percentage, right ahead of Curry. He’s also at a career-best 56.5 effective field goal percentage.

Not just improving as a scorer, Wiggins is also 12th in plus-minus among players who have played at least 10 games this season. Defensively, he’s 16th overall in defensive rating while often picking up the assignment of guarding the other team’s best player. While the numbers don’t paint him as the flashiest pick, his positive impact (especially as of recent) is undeniable for the Warriors.

Wiggins is certainly deserving of at the very least a fringe nod, especially in a down year where a lot of the league’s supposed best players are struggling to make adjustments that he has not. At a young 26 years old, he still has a ton of room to grow as a player. With the current track of improvement he’s on, if he doesn’t make it this year, he figures to make it pretty soon.

The chances that Andrew Wiggins has proven he should be part of Golden State’s long term plans as the team starts to get their young guns acclimated and ready have skyrocketed since he arrived. Initially being seen as an albatross of a contract, the Warriors were able to flip an underperforming D’Angelo Russell into a key starter.

He may not be All-Star worthy just yet, but the way he’s playing recently really makes you wonder if he will be able to keep the ramp-up going. And as Klay Thompson said, he definitely is deserving of it by virtue of his work ethic and his improvements alone. The numbers will come, especially if he keeps capitalizing on the looks he gets now as well as the looks he’ll get when Thompson is back in.

(Photo credit: Noah Graham / Getty Images)