Andrew Wiggins was the number one overall pick in this summer’s draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but there’s a certain amount of uncertainty surrounding whether or not he’ll remain on the team by the time the season is upon us.
The Cavaliers are reportedly the last team standing in trade talks with the Timberwolves for Kevin Love, and if a deal is to be agreed upon, it’s likely (at least in Minnesota’s eyes) that Wiggins would need to be included in order to get it finalized.
But none of that had anything to do with the fact that the NBA’s online store briefly showed Wiggins’ jerseys as being “discontinued,” and unavailable for purchase.
A league spokesman told NBCSports.com that Wiggins jerseys are simply sold out. There is a temporary period on the site, before a sold out item is pulled, where it is reflected as “discontinued.” The league said this happens for all sold out items, and the link to the page that was still live over the weekend is no longer active.
Additionally, manufacturing orders for rookie jerseys of top draft picks are placed shortly after the players are selected. NBAStore.com has jerseys for those players available as a pre-sale, and once the jersey numbers of players are confirmed, the site is updated accordingly.
As of right now, there are two ways to purchase a Cavaliers’ Wiggins jersey — have one custom made, or purchase the fashion black replica jersey that became available on Sunday. The league says that all regular home, road, and alternate Wiggins jerseys are scheduled to arrive on Oct. 1, in time for the start of the upcoming season.
The wording was unfortunate given the speculation surrounding the possibility of Wiggins being dealt, but the NBA partners with a company called Fanatics to run its store site (Fanatics also partners with NBCSports.com), and in this instance, “discontinued” didn’t mean what conspiracy theorists might have hoped when trying to read this particular set of tea leaves.
