One Miami Heat player that has been brought up in trade rumors this offseason is forward Andrew Wiggins.
Wiggins was traded to the Heat in the middle of the 2024-25 campaign as part of the Jimmy Butler trade.
With the lackluster quality of play he gave the Heat during their very short time in the 2025 NBA Playoffs and the notion that he might not fit the team’s timeline (he’ll turn 31 in February), it’s easy to see why his name has been floating around.
However, a report from Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel poured cold water on the idea that Miami is looking to trade Wiggins.
Winderman claimed that the team’s front office hasn’t spoken publicly or privately about a desire to trade the one-time All-Star and NBA champion.
“Again, what you cite as ‘all the talk’ actually is nothing that comes from where talk actually matters, from the Heat front office,” Winderman claimed while answering a response from one reader. “No one from the Heat front office publicly or privately (as far as I can tell) has spoken of any need or desire to jettison Andrew Wiggins. And if there is such thought, it more that likely comes from his $30.2 million option for 2026-27 than anything to do with his skill set. Andrew Wiggins is one of the six best players on the current Heat roster, and arguably in the top two thirds of that list.”
In the 2024-25 regular season, there was a lot to like about Wiggins’ offensive production with the Heat. While he did suit up in only 17 games with Miami after the Golden State Warriors traded him, he averaged 19.0 points per game while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from 3-point range in that small sample size.
Wiggins is a talented offensive player, but he isn’t one-dimensional in the sense that he only makes an impact on one side of the ball.
He is a more than competent one-on-one defender that guards wings and guards at a high level. Wiggins is someone who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty on defense, and that mentality is a hand-in-glove fit with the Heat’s modus operandi.
It would make sense for the Heat to give Wiggins a full season to show how he can impact winning with the team before they consider moving on from him or not.
Wiggins could hit unrestricted free agency following the coming 2025-26 campaign, as he has a player option on his deal for the 2026-27 season.
Wiggins’ start to his stint with the Heat was far from perfect, but his two-way skill set makes him a player worth keeping around for the team in the immediate future.