"I couldn't just publicly go there and say it" - Wiggins admits he knew he wouldn't play for Cleveland after LeBron signed with the Cavs in 2014

“I couldn’t just publicly go there and say it” – Wiggins admits he knew he wouldn’t play for Cleveland after LeBron signed with the Cavs in 2014 originally appeared on Basketball Network.

The moment Adam Silver called Andrew Wiggins’ name as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the basketball world thought the Cleveland Cavaliers had landed their next generational talent.

The excitement in the Barclays Center was electric. A wiry 6-foot-8 forward out of Kansas had become the second straight Canadian to go first overall, both by the Cavaliers.

Yet, beneath the surface of that milestone was an unspoken reality, one that Wiggins already knew he’d never wear a Cavs jersey in a regular-season game.

Wiggins’ realization

Andrew was just 19 at the time, still learning how to walk the tightrope between personal ambition and professional diplomacy. He didn’t let the moment get too loud. Publicly, Wiggins played it safe, kept his words measured.

However, privately, he had already braced himself for the trade.

“At that point, I knew I was getting traded, but I couldn’t just publicly go there and say it,” Wiggins said. “In my head, I’m trying to think quickly, ‘What should I say to flip this?'”

That 2014 offseason was one of the most turbulent in recent Cavaliers history.

LeBron James had just announced his emotional return to Cleveland after four seasons and two championships with the Miami Heat. It was the dawn of a win-now era. With James back in town, the Cavaliers weren’t interested in grooming a teenage wing into stardom over time. They needed an All-Star sidekick who could deliver immediately.

Rumors swirled that the franchise would trade its top pick, and Wiggins would be dealt before he even put on a Cavaliers uniform. For fans, it was speculation. For the rookie, it was already set in motion. Behind the scenes, Cleveland was working out the logistics of a blockbuster three-team trade.

On Aug. 23, 2014, just two months after the draft, it became official. Wiggins and fellow Canadian Anthony Bennett, who was picked No. 1 the year prior, were sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with Thaddeus Young.

The Cavaliers received Kevin Love, a proven All-Star who averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds the previous season. The Philadelphia 76ers, acting as a third wheel, picked up Luc Mbah a Moute, Alexey Shved and a 2015 first-round pick.

In the history of the NBA, only one other No. 1 pick had been traded before ever playing a game for the team that drafted him — Chris Webber in 1993. Wiggins became the second, part of a deal that instantly reshaped the Eastern Conference power balance.

Wiggs didn’t protest. He didn’t try to change the narrative. The teenager from Vaughan, Ontario, absorbed it all, carried on and started his NBA journey in Minneapolis instead of Cleveland.

A surreal welcome to the league

Wiggins didn’t have much time to dwell. The trade didn’t erase the fact that he was still a rookie navigating his first summer league, trying to earn his place and figure out what being a pro really felt like.

“I was in the summer league, basically, and my agent had told me, ‘You was going to finish out the summer league and most likely you’re going to be in Minnesota,” Wiggins recalled. “I was like, alright. And at that point, you don’t know what to expect. This is my first year in the league, I don’t know whatever it feels like to be traded.”

There was no roadmap. Being traded before you even unpack is a strange rite of passage few have experienced. Wiggins embraced it with the composure of someone twice his age. Andrew joined the Timberwolves and averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game in his rookie season, earning him the 2014–15 NBA Rookie of the Year award.

The move may have stung at first, but Minnesota became a proving ground. Over the next five seasons, he developed into a reliable scorer, even if the Wolves struggled to find consistent team success. In February 2020, Andrew was traded again, this time to the Golden State Warriors in a deal that included D’Angelo Russell. It was in the Bay Area that Wiggs would find his basketball home.

In 2022, he played a pivotal role in the Warriors’ championship run, thriving as a two-way wing and earning his first All-Star selection. That season, Wiggins averaged 17.2 points on 46.6 percent shooting and became the defensive anchor for a team led by Steph Curry and Draymond Green.

It was a full-circle moment. Once traded as a raw teenager deemed too young for a championship window, the Canadian had evolved into the exact type of player who could win one. There are no hard feelings now. Wiggins never played for the Cavs, but their decision helped carve his path.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.

“I couldn’t just publicly go there and say it” – Wiggins admits he knew he wouldn’t play for Cleveland after LeBron signed with the Cavs in 2014

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