OKC Thunder wing Aaron Wiggins is having himself quite a strong start to 2025.
Since the calendar page flipped to January, the 26-year-old has been playing lights-out basketball as he's dropping tremendous and highly efficient averages of 14.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while shooting 56.5 percent from the floor and 39.1 percent from deep throughout a 20-game stretch.
His last six outings, however, have seen him bring his level of play to an entirely new level.
In 31.0 minutes a night, he's posting 23.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists on 57.6 percent shooting from the field and 48.8 percent shooting from distance while dropping a career-high 41-point performance and showing signs of being the secondary offensive weapon OKC has desperately needed along the way.
This uptick in productivity has inspired coach Mark Daigneault to finally run plays specifically for Wiggins (something he has admittedly shied away from in the past), which, during their latest matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, was something the headman regularly leaned into.
Thunder wing Aaron Wiggins a player 'every team' would love to have
During the Thunder's 137-101 route over NOLA, of those who played 15 or more minutes the fourth-year veteran trailed only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in usage rate and placed fourth on the team in touches.
This high-end involvement led to Wiggins finishing the night with 24 points on 69.2 percent shooting from the floor and 57.1 percent shooting from deep as well as a game-high +25 box plus-minus.
Over the last few months, the wing's ascension has greatly impacted the Thunder, especially given their widespread injury woes.
Following Monday's bout against the Pelicans, the recently returned Chet Holmgren couldn't help but praise his teammate for his efforts on the year and acknowledged that any team in the league would be lucky to have a player like Aaron Wiggins.
"Every team could use Aaron Wiggins. I don't think there's something out there that he can't do at a really high level. He's been playing incredibly well the last few weeks, above even what he probably thinks his standard is but now that bar has been raised. It's not unexpected from any of us. We see how hard he works and I think this is just a culmination of all that," Holmgren said.
While Holmgren's strong choice of words may easily ring true from an on-court statistical standpoint, even beyond his counting stats it's safe to assume that virtually any team would love to roster someone like Aaron Wiggins thanks to his ideal contract figures.
This past summer, the Thunder re-signed Wiggins to a five-year, $47 million deal which, considering he's established himself as a core part of this title hopeful's rotation throughout his tenure, is a highly affordable price range.
However, when digging deeper into the layout of his contract, Oklahoma City's commitment only starts to become even more enviable as his average annual salary is just $9 million and continually drops over the years.
By the time his final two years under contract come around he'll be making just $7.9 million per season, which equates to roughly 4.0 percent of the salary cap.
To have someone as integral to the Thunder's successes as the fourth-year wing at such a price tag is truly an all-around, multi-layered game-changer.
Without question, any team in the league should strive to have someone like Aaron Wiggins within their arsenal.