Andrew Wiggins is expected to fly back to the Bay Area in the next 24 hours and attend the Warriors game against the Thunder on Tuesday night, league sources told The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:
- Wiggins has been away from the team for 48 days, missing 22 games, while attending to a personal matter. His father, Mitchell Wiggins, has been dealing with a serious medical situation, according to sources briefed on the situation.
- It remains unclear when Wiggins will actually be able to get back on the court. He has told the Warriors that he’s been working out with a personal trainer on a regular basis during his time away, spent in Minnesota.
Warriors have a lot on the line
Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ lead medical decision maker, will need time to assess Wiggins’ conditioning and readiness for a high-intensity late-season NBA environment before giving the green light. Wiggins missed 15 games earlier this season with a groin injury and took time to rediscover his groove.
The Warriors have three high-stakes games left in the regular season. Tuesday is their home finale against the Thunder. They plan to practice in San Francisco on Thursday, face the Kings on Friday in Sacramento, practice in Portland on Saturday and end the regular season on Sunday afternoon against the Blazers.
The Warriors are the sixth seed. If they can finish the season in the fifth or sixth spot, they’ll avoid the Play-In, giving Wiggins an extra week of practice before opening the first round of the playoffs the following weekend.
But if the Warriors falter this week, dropping back into the seventh or eighth spot, their season will be on the line next week, upping the urgency around Wiggins’ return. The Clippers, Warriors, Lakers and Pelicans all enter the final week tied with 38 losses.
Backstory
Wiggins’ absence began the game before the All-Star break, Feb. 14 at the Clippers. This is the first season in his career he’s missed significant time. He’d already missed 20 of the first 57 games before this stretch of absences.
Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, has averaged 17.1 points (on 47.3 percent shooting), five rebounds and 2.3 assists across 37 games this season. He was an All-Star in 2022 and played an integral role in the Warriors’ title run.
Wiggins signed a 4-year, $109 million extension last October.
Required reading
(Photo: John Hefti / USA Today)
