Heat’s Andrew Wiggins problem will be extremely complicated to solve
As the start of NBA Free Agency quickly approaches, it’s become more and more clear that the Miami Heat have an Andrew Wiggins problem that is going to be extremely complicated to solve. Wiggins is a player who no longer represents a fit that makes sense for the Heat, and calculating what that means for his future will be no easy task.
It was understandable that the Heat wanted to include Wiggins in the trade return package centered around Jimmy Butler. When the trade took place, the Heat still had hopes of competing in the Eastern Conference, and Wiggins was theoretically going to play a big part in those plans.However, if there’s anything the Heat learned over the final stretch of the season after the Jimmy trade, it’s that this team is nowhere near close to competing in the East. When you consider how the Heat hasn’t improved much this offseason, and how there isn’t a clear path for them to do so, along with the fact that many of the other East teams have improved themselves, it’s hard to imagine how much is going to change year-over-year for the Heat heading into the 2025-26.
That’s the biggest reason why Wiggins no longer makes sense on this team. The fit was iffy enough toward the end of last season; it’s hard to imagine how that’s going to get any better after his poor performance in the postseason
Wiggins finds himself in that confusing spot as a player who you’d welcome on your team, but also in a place where there are not many teams that are willingly going to part ways with trade assets to acquire him. That’s exactly the tactic we saw from Miami when they originally acquired Wiggins.
The Heat was trying to make lemonade out of lemons, and Wiggins just happened to make sense. He doesn’t anymore, though. And there’s far from an easy solution for the Heat.
Trading Wiggins will be no easy task
Wiggins has never looked comfortable in a Heat uniform, and the two sides could very well be better off without each other moving forward. Of course, there’s one big problem with that. It’s the idea that trading Wiggins sounds a lot easier than it will actually be to pull off.
I wouldn’t go all the way to say that Wiggins is a negative trade asset, because he’s not. However, his trade value has been volatile throughout his entire career. Coming off an extremely poor showing in the playoffs, I can’t imagine there are many teams lining up to trade for an underwhelming player who has fallen off on the defensive end of the floor. Even less so considering he has $30 million player option for the 2026-27 season.
