Did Andrew Wiggins Get Traded Because He Picked the Wrong Agent?

Oh, what could have been. 

Appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio, ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst passed along word that the Cleveland Cavaliers very well could have retained No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year front-runner Andrew Wiggins if he had signed with LeBron James' agent, Rich Paul. 

Here's what Windhorst had to say, as transcribed by NBC Sports' Dan Feldman:

"

I think he’d still be there.

LeBron definitely wanted to play with Kevin Love, but remember, Wiggins was not mentioned in the LeBron letter. And on July 7th, the Cavs felt like, if they signed LeBron, they would just keep Wiggins, that they wouldn’t trade him for Love. If Love really wanted to play in Cleveland, he could’ve come there as a free agent next summer. By July 10th or 11th, once LeBron had gotten there, all of a sudden, Wiggins was in the deal.

So, you can draw your own map from there. People can deny it from now until those guys retire, but I know exactly what happened. I saw the roadmap.

If Wiggins had signed with LeBron’s agency, then Wiggins would have been in the letter. If Wiggins would have been having a relationship with LeBron in the weeks leading up to the draft, then it would have been a no-brainer.

"

So there's that. 

The fact of the matter remains that Wiggins opted against signing with Paul and Klutch Sports, spurning LeBron's representation for Bill Duffy of BDA Sports Management. Windhorst's reporting is fascinating on its own, but it's particularly noteworthy since Paul is one of James' best friends. Therefore, Wiggins' decision to sign elsewhere adds another intriguing personal wrinkle to this evolving story. 

But as the past few months have indicated, the situation has played out just fine for all parties involved. 

After the Cavaliers aimed to please LeBron and shelled out an intriguing package of young prospects for Love, Cleveland finds itself firmly in the title hunt. And the rapid continuity Cleveland's core has established en route to assembling the league's sixth-best offense may not have been possible with a raw 19-year-old in tow.  

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Now surging up the standings following Love's best basic statistical month of the season (17.9 points and 11.1 rebounds), the Cavaliers are primed to challenge the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors for Eastern Conference supremacy.

With Wiggins, it's hard to ignore just how smooth his transition into the role of franchise centerpiece has been with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Although questions lingered regarding his aggression and ability to consistently attack off the dribble, Wiggins has been far and away the league's most impressive first-year player.

Last month, he averaged season highs of 19.8 points and 4.6 rebounds on 47.1 percent shooting from the field and 34 percent shooting from three. He also recently took home Rising Stars MVP honors by dropping 22 pints in 23 minutes flanked by teammate Gorgui Dieng with fellow Minnesota youngsters Zach LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad representing the United States side.

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“It was great seeing all my teammates on the court,” Wiggins said, according to NBA.com's Kyle Ratke. “I loved every second of it. It shows the promise and success that our organization will have in the future."

Able to roam around in Minnesota's offense and play through growing pains, it's easy to wonder whether Wiggins would have been afforded the same freedom playing with James and Kyrie Irving on a team dead-set on capturing a championship in the near future.

As things stand, Wiggins leads all qualified rookies in scoring (15.2 points), three-point percentage (35.8) and ranks tops in free-throws made by a gargantuan 71 over Nikola Mirotic of the Bulls. All that, of course, is facilitated by Flip Saunders' willingness to play Wiggins 34.5 minutes per game in a starring role. That mark leads all rookies by four minutes. 

"Consider this: Wiggins has topped the 20-point mark this season 16 times," Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes wrote. "The rest of the top 10, combined, have scored 20 or more just nine times."

So while fantasies of Wiggins locking down perimeter ball-handlers on the wing next to James are still drool-inducing, it's hard not to think that Cleveland and Minnesota both made the moves best for their respective franchises.