No one handed out congratulations to top 2014 NBA Draft pick Andrew Wiggins this weekend when he was officially traded from the contending Cleveland Cavaliers to the rebuilding Minnesota Timberwolves.
His high school and college coaches, however, believe his new situation is what's best for him.
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NBA.com reported that Wiggins' high school coach at Huntington Prep in West Virginia, Rob Fulford, said the way the trade went down - Wiggins waiting for more than a month to find out officially that he would be playing for the Timberwolves, rather than the Cavaliers, who drafted him No. 1 - has just motivated him more.
"Andrew's going to be a superstar," Fulford, now an assistant at Missouri, told NBA.com. "This gives him a platform from Day 1 to kind of be the guy, and he's ready for that.
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"Andrew is such a good kid; he's just a classy kid, very humble, very respectful. I think this whole process with the trade rumors, he could care less. That kid just wants to play basketball. The fact that LeBron never reached out to him, Andrew could care less what LeBron James thinks of him."
Kansas coach Bill Self agreed, saying that playing alongside James actually could've been detrimental to his career.
"Even though, in a weird way, everybody would love the opportunity to play with LeBron because you're guaranteed winning, for the longevity of his career, he needs to develop that mindset to be the guy for him to be great," Self told reporters. "And I think being in Minnesota will help him do that."
Wiggins has been tabbed as the next "LeBron" since his playing days at Huntington Prep. With on James to impede his progress, he can learn to be the alpha dog on his own team, Fulford says.
"I don't think there's any question he'll have a great rookie season. He's groomed for this," Fulford said. "In college he got better the year he was there, but he'll be a better NBA player than he was a college player, and he was an All-American at Kansas, so sky's the limit for him.
"It's one of those things, him being on a team where it's kind of really going to be his, I think, is a good thing for him."
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