The Cavs have officially signed the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins, the team announced today. There had been hints he was signing earlier this month, but with the Kevin Love trade rumors in the air, some thought they would merely trade his rights and use other players to match contracts.
Wiggins should receive a starting salary in excess of $5.5 million in his first season, per the rookie salary scale.
The Timberwolves have long demanded Wiggins be included in any trade for Love, but with the signing the two teams cannot officially complete a trade involving the 19 year old out of Kansas for another 30 days. That doesn’t mean they can’t arrive at a handshake agreement and then wait the necessary month before making it official, but it does dampen the Love-to-Cleveland rumors that have been rife over the last week.
Then again, USA Today‘s Sam Amick reports that the ‘Wolves are in no rush to get a deal done, which might be why the Cavs have hedged their bets by signing Wiggins:
On the Kevin Love front, the word out of Cleveland yesterday was that the T-Wolves still weren't showing any urgency to get a deal done.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 23, 2014
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The early entry Wiggins was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-League in his only year at Kansas. With the Jayhawks last year the 6-8 swingman averaged 17.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.0 block in 32.8 minutes per game.
In four games during the 2014 NBA Summer League, Wiggins averaged a team-high 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks in 29.9 minutes per game. He also did this during warmups before a summer league contest…
and showed off his spectacular athleticism with this nifty spin move for the jam in an actual summer league game:
Does Wiggins play for the Cavs next year?
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