2025-26 Thunder player grades: Aaron Wiggins

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The calendar has flipped to August. Which means we're in the dog days of the NBA's year-round calendar. Little will happen over the next two months as teams across the league prepare for the 2026-27 season. Before we move on, though, let's reflect one last time on last year.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had a league-best 64-18 regular-season record. Juggling injuries all year, they overcame notable absences all year. Alas, they fell short of a second NBA championship with a 2026 Western Conference Finals exit.

To reflect on their 2025-26 season, Thunder Wire will conduct player grades for all 20 players who suited up for them this past year. Tenth up is Aaron Wiggins, who was eventually moved in a trade to the Atlanta Hawks:

2025-26 statistics:​

• 9.4 points
• 3.1 rebounds
• 1.7 assists
• 43.1% shooting
• 35.6% 3-point shooting
• 73.6% free-throw shooting

Advanced stats:​

• True-shooting percentage: 53.8%
• Usage rate: 19.9%
• Win shares: 2.1
• VORP: 0.4

Significant Percentile Finishes:​

• Transition scorer: 64.0 percentile
• P&R ball-handler: 38.2 percentile
• Spot-up scorer: 25.8 percentile
• Cutter: 42.7 percentile

Contract:​

• 2026-27: $9 million
• 2027-28: $8.2 million
• 2028-29: $8.2 million (team option)

Thoughts:​

Enjoying the peak of being an NBA champion, Wiggins crashed back down to Earth. Running it back with the same group, it was a given that some of the Thunder would endure a championship hangover. Only natural for that to happen as several role players simultaneously had career years on their way to a ring. Turns out, Wiggins was one of those poor souls. He regressed across the board and stomached through his worst campaign yet.

Things started great for Wiggins. He continued to be a double-digit scorer. That was the latest development in his best-case scenario career. Juggling injuries, he stepped up as a secondary scorer. The 27-year-old has mastered being a seamless offensive fit. He can create his own buckets as a self-creator and also be a play-finisher either from catch-and-shoot looks or with savvy off-ball cuts to the rim.

And then injuries started to pile up. This was the first time Wiggins had missed notable time. He only played in 65 games this past regular season. His fewest since his rookie year. His minutes also dwindled. Dealing with nagging muscle injuries, he never looked right after a month-long absence in the early part of the 2025-26 regular season. His efficiency went below league-average levels. That was previously one of his superpowers as an offense-friendly guy.

Previously one of OKC's best rim finishers, Wiggins struggled to finesse his way through contact. He's carved out an NBA career by banking in circus attempts. But that luck no longer existed. Instead, his drives ended with frustrating misses. Evidently, his confidence was at an all-time low. Even with his outside shot still mostly there, he second-guessed himself. To the point that he was outside of the rotation by the end of the year.

The Thunder tried everything to get Wiggins going. One of their goals post-All-Star break was to get him going. They'd feed him minutes. Hoping he'd catch a stride. Instead, nothing happened. Trying to rev up his engines, his scoring bad never emerged. That's how one of their postseason heroes from last year was outside of the rotation for their recent NBA playoff run.

By the end of the year, it was painfully obvious that the Thunder and Wiggins had to move on. As awesome as he was in his first four seasons in OKC, it needed to make room for the incoming slate of talent. One of the best ways to open up possessions and minutes? Moving on from somebody whose career arrow trended down. A change of scenery best suits him. That's what happened when he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks.

Even though he's no longer on the Thunder, Wiggins remains one of their best developmental stories ever. He went from a second-round two-way rookie to a key contributor in their NBA championship run. Along the way, he turned in four solid seasons of high-level basketball to help OKC be a title contender. Because of all that, he'll be immortalized in the small market.

Moving Forward:​

After Wiggins regressed across the board, the Thunder had an out to trade him. Not just for basketball reasons, but financial ones too. The writing was on the wall that he'd likely get dealt. Hard to come back from being basically benched in the NBA playoffs. If you can't trust the role player on that stage, no point in pretending everything will be fine for an additional year. Good move by OKC to just rip the Band-Aid off now and get what you can. Even if they technically sold low on his value.

That said, I have full confidence Wiggins will have a bounce-back year on the Hawks. He feels like a change-of-scenery guy. I don't necessarily believe he's just forgotten how to be a high-level role player. Especially since he's amid his prime years right now. Think you could soundly categorize this past season as a one-off bad year. Sometimes, you're due for those. Especially with the sizzling start to his NBA journey as a former No. 55 pick.

It should also help playing the East and on a playoff contender. The Hawks won't deal with championship pressure. So they can give Wiggins more leeway to play his way out of any funk. He was no longer afforded that luxury in OKC. The surest way for him to get back to being a positive contributor? Up your finishing numbers around the rim to what they've previously been.

The outside jumper is nice. He's really honed in on that tool. But his bread and butter has been his driving game. He was one of the more creative finishers through traffic in OKC. He needs to return to that style on the Hawks. It's going to be a huge year for him in terms of how the rest of his NBA career plays out. One bad year is forgivable. But another could put him in dangerous territory.

Wiggins will have all of the motivation in the world to get back on track. The Hawks are hoping their low-cost acquisition could add to their depth. They don't have a bona fide NBA superstar per se, but have plenty of quality players across their depth chart. They're going to beat teams by having everybody contributing. On paper, that reads like the perfect environment for a microwave scorer.

Final Grade: C​

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 2025-26 Thunder player grades: Aaron Wiggins

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