'Great thing for Canada' says top pick Wiggins

By Larry Fine NEW YORK (Reuters) - High-springing swingman Andrew Wiggins was over the moon after being taken with the first pick of the NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday and proclaimed it "a great thing for Canada." The ultra-athletic Wiggins, son of former American NBA player Mitchell Wiggins and two-time Olympic sprinter Marita-Payne Wiggins from Canada, wore a huge smile and a splashy dinner jacket and could hardly harness his emotions. "A thousand thoughts are going through my head right now. It's a dream come true. I've been dreaming of this moment since I was a little kid," a beaming Wiggins told reporters. "My dream was just to make the NBA. Now going to high school and college, the opportunity and possibility of going number one came into talk and now I accomplished that. "It's just a crazy feeling right now. It doesn't even feel real right now." Wiggins followed compatriot and former schoolboy teammate Anthony Bennett as the NBA's number one overall pick and will be joining him on the Cavs. The 6-foot-8 (2.03) guard/forward said it was a fantastic development for his home country. "Great thing for Toronto. Great thing for Canada," Wiggins, 19, said. "Before this, no player from Canada has been number one, and now we have two back-to-back. So it's a huge accomplishment for Canada. "It opens so much more doors for all the kids in Canada," added Wiggins, who will also be reunited with compatriot Tristan Thompson, who was taken fourth by Cleveland in the 2011 draft. "I played with Tristan for a summer ... and I played with Anthony for a while, too. So I'm just excited. The chemistry is already there with those guys. So I think big things are to come." Wiggins said it meant a lot to his family. "It's a huge moment for me and my family right now, especially because my parents were pro athletes before. "Now they can kind of like live the dream again through me and just watch their youngest son do something special with his life and play at the highest level of basketball." Wiggins was asked about the possibility of four-time NBA most valuable player LeBron James, who this week announced his intention to become a free agent by opting out of his contract with the Miami Heat, deciding to return to Cleveland, where he began his NBA career. "I want to win," said Wiggins. "If he wants to win, we'd be good together." (Editing by Greg Stutchbury)