When you think of legends in the Golden State Warriors' franchise history, your mind probably goes to the superstars, such as Steph Curry or Rick Barry, or the recent icons, like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, or Kevin Durant. Maybe you'll consider players from the RUN TMC or "We Believe" eras.

One player that might be overlooked in that discussion, but was no doubt a vital part of one of the Warriors' five championships, is Andrew Wiggins. The forward may have only played in the Bay for five total seasons and made just one All-Star team that was perhaps a bit skewed by the voting, but there's no doubt that Wiggins played a massive role in the Warriors winning the 2022 NBA Championship.

Wiggins was the centerpiece of the blockbuster trade last season that sent him to the Miami Heat in exchange for Jimmy Butler, but now with Butler out for the season with a torn ACL, reports have come out that a reunion between Wiggins and the Warriors may be in the cards.

The Warriors have been exploring trades for most of the past few weeks, especially since Jonathan Kuminga demanded a trade on January 15. Some names that have come and gone were Michael Porter Jr., Trey Murphy III, DeMar DeRozan — the list goes on with varying degrees of likeliness.

However, it seems like Wiggins could potentially have a real chance to come back to Chase Center.

In January 23rd's issue of the Stein Line, Marc Stein cited league sources that reported "one avenue which will certainly be explored is the prospect of a Kuminga-for-Andrew Wiggins swap with Miami that potentially brings Wiggins back to the Bay Area after he was shipped to South Beach last February for Butler."

The issue with the Kuminga trade currently is that while the Warriors want to upgrade, specifically at the forward position, they're seemingly unwilling to part with future first-round picks that hold the most value. Additionally, the salary cap means they're forced to find a trade that evenly matches the money from the outgoing contract of Kuminga and anyone else involved.

Wiggins' $28 million contract is easy enough to work with for Kuminga's $22 million contract, and likely wouldn't end up costing more than one first-round pick, if any at all.

If this trade does happen, Warriors fans would likely feel good about themselves no matter what, since an old friend was brought back. However, what's important is if Wiggins would slot back in just as well as he did before.

Considering the team hasn't changed much at all from last season, outside of swapping Kevon Looney for Al Horford, it seems like it would work.

Wiggins is currently averaging 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists this season while shooting 47% from the field and 40% from three. The three-point shooting mark is a career-high, though it is on less attempts than all but one season from when he was with the Warriors. In fact, the points total is also the second-least in his career, just ahead of the down year he experience in 2023-24 with the Warriors.

However, that also coincides with his usage percentage being the lowest in his entire career, likely due to taking a backseat to players like Norman Powell and Bam Adebayo this season. He'd likely have to take more of an active role alongside Curry if he were to return to Golden State, raising his usage numbers and thus most of his counting stats.

All in all, Wiggins would likely fill the gap left by Butler relatively well, meaning he may end up being away from the Warriors for less than a year.