Former Warriors star feels franchise shouldn't have paid Andrew Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins was widely regarded as Golden State's second-best player behind Stephen Curry during their championship run in 2022. 

Many believe the Warriors wouldn't have beaten Boston in those NBA Finals if not for Wiggins, who played lockdown defense on Celtics star Jayson Tatum, keeping him to a subpar 37 percent from the field over six games.

Later that year, the Warriors front office rewarded Wiggins with a four-year, $109 million contract, which many at the time felt was a bargain deal considering the Ontario native's importance to the team on both sides of the ball. 

Less than 15 months later, there's growing doubt over Wiggins' long-term future in Golden State. According to NBA insiders Brian Windhorst and Shams Charania, the Warriors are open to moving Wiggins ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline. 

Reacting to the news on "All the Smoke," a visibly upset Stephen Jackson shook his head before launching a tirade about Golden State's decision to extend Wiggins.

"They f---ed up when they gave Wiggins that money," Jackson said. "Y'all got a good postseason out of him, but y'all were questioning him before that. He played a couple of good rounds in the playoffs, but you still played him."

Jackson contended that the Warriors could have preserved cap space to pay Klay Thompson — an unrestricted free agent this summer — instead of paying Wiggins in 2022. 

While the Warriors could still pay Thompson a lucrative contract and pile on their luxury tax bill, there have been murmurs about Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob pulling the plug on his front office's excessive spending.  

"Right now, y'all need that money for Klay," Jackson added. "Y'all owe Klay that money. Y'all should have never given Wiggins that money. Y'all thought you were gonna get three or four years out of him based on two rounds of the playoffs? That was wrong -- dead wrong."