Grading the 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder bench unit

The Oklahoma City Thunder struck gold with their selection of Aaron Wiggins who continues the two-way tradition

Aaron Wiggins is one of my favorite players on the Oklahoma City Thunder roster, the 23-year-old wing was selected with the 55th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, just five spots away from going undrafted and his career taking a different path.

Wiggins inked a two-way deal with the Thunder last offseason and after the NBA trade deadline had his contract converted to a standard NBA deal spanning three seasons with 2022-23 and 2023-24 only having partially guaranteed money (1.5-million dollars and 1.8-million dollars) and the 2024-25 season being a 1.9 club option before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2025-26. The Maryland product joins a long line of two-way conversions for Sam Presti.

The 6’6 wing played 50-games as a rookie including 35-starts capitalizing on a hot start at the same time Darius Bazley was benched. Wiggins averaged eight points, three rebounds, and an assist per game while shooting 46-percent from the floor including 30-percent from distance.

Aaron Wiggins produced a career-high 28-points against the Blazers on March 28th which capped off four careers of 20-plus point games this season. Role players traditionally play better at home and that was no different with Wiggins who stroked the trey ball at a 34-percent clip in the Paycom center compared to just 27-percent away from home. He shot 37-percent in the month of November from deep (8-games), and 34-percent in an 11-game stretch in March.

In the corner, Wiggins shot 32-percent from three, 30-percent on non-corner threes, and 31-percent on the year when you take out all desperation heaves at the end of the clock. He dominated in the mid-range shooting 48-percent which ranked him in the 87th percentile and was one of the few Thunder players to perform well at the rim shooting 65-percent at the tin.

While his three-point shooting does need to improve to that 35-plus mark, his defense was out of this world for a rookie. It is incredibly rare to step into the NBA, especially as a 55th overall pick, and be able to switch 1-4 and even sometimes 1-5, play the passing lanes, and wall up at the rim.

This makes him the prototypical modern NBA player and someone who could easily play in a playoff rotation as the game slows down and each possession counts more. Sam Presti grabbed a player like that at pick 55 to put a bow on a fantastic draft class.

Grade: B, while there are obvious areas to improve on, he is still outperforming his contract, pick slot, and expectations. I would expect Wiggins to remain in OKC for the long haul.