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The man who saved basketball officially has a new home in Atlanta.
On Monday morning, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced the trade of fan favorite Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks for two future 2nd round picks.
While OKC fans are sad to see Wiggins go, the deal was inevitable due to a number of reasons. Oklahoma City needed to shed salary and trading the former Maryland Terrapin's $9 million cap hit saved approximately $60 million in tax. The Thunder had two 2026 1st round draft picks, which eventually became Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz, so freeing up two roster spots was a necessity. The trade also landed Wiggins in a spot where he will have a chance to play more minutes and prove he can still be an impactful role player. OKC has a loaded roster and players such as Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain passed him in the rotation. The trade is ultimately a rare win-win-win for the Thunder, the Hawks and Wiggins.
July 6 is the end of the league's player contract moratorium when teams can officially finalize trades, new contracts and free agent signings. Wiggins was the first Thunder transaction to be formerly announced, but quite a few will soon follow. Those include the Isaiah Joe trade to the Detroit Pistons for two future 2nd round picks, the Isaiah Hartenstein decline and signing for three years at $75 million and the decline and signing of Kenrich Williams for one year at $5 million.
Wiggins played 5 seasons in Oklahoma City. He was drafted by the Thunder with the #55 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and became one of OKC's greatest draft picks and developmental stories in their history.
Over a half decade, Wiggins appeared in 339 games including 100 starts. His Thunder career averages: 8.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, .7 steals and .3 blocks in 20.3 minutes per game. His best season was OKC's championship season in which he averaged 12.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists, all career high marks. During that title year, Wiggins scored a career best 41 points in a February game versus the Sacramento Kings.
The North Carolina native finished his Thunder career as the #11 points scorer in Oklahoma City franchise history. Wiggins also finished as #10 in games played and #7 in made 3 pointers. Pretty remarkable rankings for a late 2nd round role player.
Wiggins will continue his basketball saving journey for the Hawks going forward. But he will always be remembered and beloved in Oklahoma City as a key part of the group that brought the Thunder their first every NBA Championship.
Continue reading...
On Monday morning, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced the trade of fan favorite Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks for two future 2nd round picks.
While OKC fans are sad to see Wiggins go, the deal was inevitable due to a number of reasons. Oklahoma City needed to shed salary and trading the former Maryland Terrapin's $9 million cap hit saved approximately $60 million in tax. The Thunder had two 2026 1st round draft picks, which eventually became Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz, so freeing up two roster spots was a necessity. The trade also landed Wiggins in a spot where he will have a chance to play more minutes and prove he can still be an impactful role player. OKC has a loaded roster and players such as Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain passed him in the rotation. The trade is ultimately a rare win-win-win for the Thunder, the Hawks and Wiggins.
July 6 is the end of the league's player contract moratorium when teams can officially finalize trades, new contracts and free agent signings. Wiggins was the first Thunder transaction to be formerly announced, but quite a few will soon follow. Those include the Isaiah Joe trade to the Detroit Pistons for two future 2nd round picks, the Isaiah Hartenstein decline and signing for three years at $75 million and the decline and signing of Kenrich Williams for one year at $5 million.
Wiggins played 5 seasons in Oklahoma City. He was drafted by the Thunder with the #55 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and became one of OKC's greatest draft picks and developmental stories in their history.
Over a half decade, Wiggins appeared in 339 games including 100 starts. His Thunder career averages: 8.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, .7 steals and .3 blocks in 20.3 minutes per game. His best season was OKC's championship season in which he averaged 12.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists, all career high marks. During that title year, Wiggins scored a career best 41 points in a February game versus the Sacramento Kings.
The North Carolina native finished his Thunder career as the #11 points scorer in Oklahoma City franchise history. Wiggins also finished as #10 in games played and #7 in made 3 pointers. Pretty remarkable rankings for a late 2nd round role player.
Wiggins will continue his basketball saving journey for the Hawks going forward. But he will always be remembered and beloved in Oklahoma City as a key part of the group that brought the Thunder their first every NBA Championship.
Continue reading...
