look out, lebron, andrew wiggins will soon be coming....

This is definitely true. Not to mention some other less heralded names like Kevin Pangos, Nick Stauskas and Myck Kabongo who've been making noise in college basketball in recent years.

Not sure what caused it (was it perhaps Steve Nash's success popularizing the game up there?), but in the last few years Canada went from being viewed as a hoops dead zone to cranking out big time talent left and right. Canada's never been viewed as a player in international competition, but that is definitely about the change, they've easily got the young talent to soon replace Spain as our top challenger.

 

I'm not sure about the others, but Wiggins father is from North Carolina and played in the NBA, so there was a pretty good chance he was going to have an interest in basketball no matter where he grew up.

 

Dominique Wilkins? Andrew Wiggins isn't that type of player at all. He's more along the lines of Scottie Pippen, a ridiculous athlete with a well-rounded game who probably can't run an offense full-time but does a lot of those types of things. He's definitely not a pure scorer like Wilkins.

 

Canada probably isn't making the 2016 Olympics.

 

He has a lot more "Human Highlight Reel" in him than Pippen ever did. I wouldn't say Wilkins is a perfect comparison, but I can't think of anyone I'd say is.

Anyway, Embiid. Remember that name.

 

Pippen unleashed many, many great dunks in his day. He was a ridiculous athlete, which made him such a great defender. He probably was more athletic than Michael Jordan.

Dominique Wilkins was one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. Wiggins can't touch him in that category but has the potential to be better in almost every other aspect of the game.

You're not coming up with some new opinion on that. DraftExpress.com has him sixth. ESPN's Chad Ford and NBADraft.net have him eighth. But from what I've seen, he has very high bust potential. Centers who struggle on offense at the high school level don't make it in the NBA very often.

 

Yeah, but I don't think the average fan has him on the radar. Self said he had the best footwork from a 7-footer he's seen since Hakeem, and he doesn't throw that kind of comparison out there often. Watching Late Night in the Phog the other night I was fairly impressed with his offensive game, I think he's made strides already. And Self and staff have done a better job developing big men than anyone in the country.

 

It's weird that Bill Self hasn't seen Tim Duncan, though.

 

I'd say it's a bit too early to make that call as to whether he can be a Wilkins-like scorer.

Keep in mind that Wilkins was not that kind of "pure scorer" when he entered the league at the age of 23. Instead, he was first known primarily for his freakish human highlight film athleticism who had quite a shaky outside shot at the time (he shot a putrid 2 for 22 on three point attempts his first two years) and only averaged around 17 at the beginning. It wasn't until around his third season at the age of 25 when he really improved his shooting range and his scoring averages exploded.

Wiggins is about the same size, about the same body type, has the same incredibly freakish athleticism, and is only 18 years old. I hardly think it unreasonable to think his scoring skills may evolve to a comparable level by the age of 25.

 

He's probably seen lots of guys who aren't 7-foot play.

 

If he gets to that Dominique Wilkins level as a scorer, he probably also will be better at many other facets of the game. Projecting single-year college performances is tough, but the expectation at the NBA level is Andrew Wiggins could average five-plus assists a game. Wilkins never reached 4.0 and only topped 3.5 once.

The defense is the real difference, though. Wilkins' rep was that he could buckle down one-on-one when he wanted but usually was lax on that end. Wiggins looks like a potential game-changer on that end.

He reminds me a bit of Paul George.

 

Well, it doesn't really matter, but Duncan is 7-0. He's been listed at 6-11 for his entire career because the NBA never updates measurements. LeBron James is listed at 6-8, 240 pounds, but he's been measured numerous times at 6-9 and reportedly weighs 260-270 now. The rumor is Duncan's agent told him to slouch at the draft combine because he wanted to play power forward.