At the beginning of this NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves signed Andrew Wiggins to a multi-year deal. Per team rules, the details of the deal were not officially released.

But, based on a number of leaked reports, it was a massive five-year extension worth upwards of $25 million per season, including a $33.3 million cap hit in 2022-2023.

Everyone was excited at the time.

“I’m pleased that we’ve reached an agreement with Andrew on a contract extension,” said Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor. “Andrew is one of the best young players in the NBA and he has the talent and work ethic to get even better and be a foundation for our franchise for many years.”

“We’re very excited that Andrew has decided to commit his future to the Timberwolves,” exclaimed Timberwolves president of basketball operations and head coach Tom Thibodeau. “We feel strongly that he is just scratching the surface of the player he will become. Andrew is among the elite young talents in our league and the sky is the limit for him. We look forward to watching his development in the coming years.”

“I’m very excited to continue my career with the Timberwolves,” said Wiggins. “I love it here. The fans and organization have supported me from my first day here in Minnesota. I want to thank Glen Taylor, Tom Thibodeau, the entire coaching staff and my teammates for believing in me. We’ve had some good times over the last three seasons, but the best is yet to come. I look forward to doing right by them and bringing this team to the postseason.”

However, Wiggins’ relationship with the organization hasn’t exactly been smooth recently.

Famously, Taylor publicly announced that he had some hesitancy giving Wiggins a max deal just months before the offer was extended.

"To me, by making this offer, I'm speculating that his contribution to the team will be more in the future," Taylor told The Associated Press. "We've got to be better. He can't be paid just for what he's doing today. He's got to be better,” Taylor said over this past summer.

He continued, ”So when you're talking about negotiations on his part, I'm already extending to him that I'm willing to meet the max. But there are some things that I need out of him, and that is the commitment to be a better player than you are today."

"He seems like a very good person," Taylor added. "He seems to have the ability and so the only thing it would be is for some reason he didn't work hard enough to obtain the skill sets. That's what you're asking him to commit to.”

From a player's perspective, those aren't exactly positive words to hear.

Fast forwarding to the present day, it seems like there might be trouble between Wiggins and the T-Wolves.

Despite the fact that Minnesota is currently in sixth place in the Western Conference and are most likely headed for the playoffs, it appears as though he’s unhappy with his current role on the team. According to Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500, Wiggins has “whispered to teammates” that he isn’t content being the team’s third option behind Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns.

That’s obviously concerning.

Listen HERE to the first episode of the new GiveMeSport NBA podcast, featuring former Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin. 

Since Butler went down with his knee injury, Wiggins has taken on a larger role within the team’s offense. After averaging just 15.6 points per game on 13.8 shot attempts in the month of February, the Canadian is averaging 20.0 points per contest on 18.0 field goal attempts so far in March.

Since he was the co-star alongside Towns heading into the summer, it might have been hard for Wiggins when the team traded for Butler on the day of the 2017 NBA Draft. In order for Minnesota to take the next step forward, they’ll need him to either be fully on board or will need to trade him for someone who might be more inclined to fit in alongside the two All-Stars.