The 2025 NBA Draft is firmly in the rearview mirror at this point, as the two-day event was held on June 25 and 26, and teams have shifted their attention to free agency. The Miami Heat might’ve been close to making a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks leading up to this year’s draft, though.
According to Five Reasons Sports’ Ethan J. Skolnick, Miami and Milwaukee had talks that “came close to something” before the 2025 NBA Draft.
“We’ve heard the Heat have had conversations with Milwaukee that came close to something before the draft but fell through (it wasn’t Giannis [Antetokounmpo] related),” Skolnick wrote via Discord.
Skolnick added that the deal seems to be dead now.
“Seems to be dead now,” Skolnick wrote.
Based on the context provided in Discord, Skolnick appeared to indicate that Heat forward Andrew Wiggins was involved in the talks involving the Heat and Bucks. Looking at Wiggins’ contract situation, he is set to be paid just over $28 million in the upcoming 2025-26 campaign before he has a player option attached to his deal for the 2026-27 season.
Wiggins stands out as an obvious trade candidate for the Heat this offseason for more reasons than one. First, he doesn’t necessarily fit Miami’s timeline, considering he’s 30 years old and will turn 31 in February of next year.
Second, he has the skill set and playoff experience to make him an attractive trade option for plenty of contenders around the league.
Wiggins is a two-way player capable of scoring the ball at an impressive rate while getting his hands dirty on the other side of the floor, and he knows what it takes to win an NBA title. He was an instrumental part of the Golden State Warriors team that captured the 2022 championship.
It’s unfortunate that the Heat and Bucks weren’t able to come to terms on a deal before the 2025 NBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean it’s set in stone that Wiggins will remain a member of the Heat by the start of the new season.
Perhaps Wiggins will get moved to a team other than the Bucks, and he will be a name to monitor for Heat fans in the coming days and weeks as the offseason continues forward.