Report: Wiggins has 'whispered to teammates' that he's unhappy as 3rd option

The arrival of Jimmy Butler has propelled the Minnesota Timberwolves toward legitimacy, but it's also necessitated some sacrifices from the team's incumbent rising stars, as both Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins have seen significant decreases in their usage rates and scoring outputs this season

Towns, though, has remained ultra-productive at the offensive end, and the Wolves have responded by making him more of a go-to option with Butler sidelined. Wiggins has had a tougher time adapting to the new hierarchy; he's having the least efficient season of his career, and his diminished role is reportedly starting to weigh on him.

Wiggins has "whispered to teammates" that he's unhappy being a third option behind Butler and Towns, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports.

Wiggins is still averaging considerably more field-goal attempts per 100 possessions than Towns (22 to 19.6) and using a higher percentage of Minnesota's possessions (23.7 to 22.4), so perhaps he's reacting to the last two games, which have seen the Wolves pivot toward a more Towns-centric offense, limiting Wiggins' usage to a pedestrian 20.9 percent. Maybe he's preemptively concerned about his usage slipping even lower when Butler returns.

It's worth noting, though, that Wiggins has thrived in those two games - both Wolves wins - with a 59.7 percent true shooting mark and a team-best 13.6 net rating.