The OKC Thunder fell back on their depth players in a win over the Atlanta Hawks, one of whom had a balanced performance. Former Maryland guard Aaron Wiggins, a name heavily discussed in OKC’s preseason, played solidly.

Wiggins finished OKC’s 104-99 win over Atlanta with just three points on 1-5 shooting, but made an impact on the stat sheet elsewhere. He also finished with six rebounds, all defensive, and four assists. He grabbed two steals on the defensive side of the ball and turned it over just once.

This was by no means Wiggins’ best goal performance. He finished the preseason game with 13 points against the Houston Rockets and the game before that with 10 points against the Denver Nuggets. However, the number of points he scored per game wasn’t what set him apart.

Wiggins has shown so far that he is a willing rebounder, defender and passer. He only averaged about four rebounds per game, most of them against the Hawks. He’s 6-foot-3 and has excellent size and strength for a guard. This makes rebounding a little easier, especially against smaller guards.

The big guard has been able to force a lot of turnovers so far this preseason, but it’s obvious that he’s also a good ball defender. His ability to slide his feet and move with guards is impressive and doesn’t make him a liability when his shot isn’t falling. He recorded two steals in three of his four preseason appearances, showing his ability to prevent and force turnovers.

He also showed his ability to move the ball and create for others. In the preseason he recorded 2.5 assists per game and also achieved his best mark against the Hawks. Most of those preseason assists came by swinging the ball around the three-point line, a valuable advantage in an NBA offense. Wiggins isn’t the type of guard to dribble and kick out on said drive, but he can still rack up assists on the perimeter.

He averaged 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists for OKC last year. With around 20 minutes per game in four preseason games, he showed that he can do anything for the Thunder. He typically comes off the bench for OKC, but if he continues to impact the game in a variety of ways in those minutes, his role will be solid. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see his minutes increase.

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