Deeply disappointed after missing the playoffs last spring, the Warriors entered the summer promising to make significant improvements to the roster. At the top of her wish list was six-time All-Star Paul George, then with the Los Angeles Clippers.

However, the Clippers were unwilling to make a deal that would land George at Golden State. They opted to let George enter the free agent market, putting him out of reach for the Warriors, whose salary cap was tight, and into the fold of the Philadelphia 76ers, one of the few teams with cap space to offer a maximum contract ($212 million, four years).

So George’s first game this season at Chase Center will be as an opponent. The 76ers (13-18) and Warriors (16-16) meet on Thursday evening, with tip-off scheduled for just after 7 p.m.

The man the Warriors have targeted will spend a lot of time competing against Andrew Wiggins, one of the players the Clippers were interested in when the teams were exploring proposals last summer.

Wiggins’ season was one full of peaks and valleys. He is averaging 16.4 points per game, third on the team, and shooting 44.6 percent from the field, including 40.7 percent from distance. He is one of three Warriors – Stephen Curry and Jonathan Kuminga are the others – to have scored at least 20 points in nine games.

But Wiggins has reached 20 points just once in the last seven games and has totaled 23 points on 10 of 32 shooting from the field, including 3 of 14 from long range, in his last three games.

This game was meant to showcase Wiggins’ pride. He loves the Golden State franchise and knows that in any deal that would have brought George to the Warriors, he almost certainly would have gone to the Clippers.

Although George will face a variety of defenders, including Draymond Green and Kuminga, it is Wiggins who has something to prove. When George has the dominant game, averaging 16.1 points and shooting 41.5 percent from the field, including 32.8 percent from distance, that puts Philly in position to win.

Wiggins needs a strong game to get out of the slump, and the same goes for the Warriors, who have lost 13 of their last 17 games and are hoping to use the current situation to find their feet.

The 76ers are also trying to climb the table. They are trying to get out of the hole they previously fell into by losing 12 of their first 14 games while dealing with the injury absences of Joel Embiid and George. George is healthy, but Embiid is listed as questionable with a left ankle sprain.

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