MIAMI — Forward Andrew Wiggins on Monday exercised the $30.2 million player option on the final season on his Miami Heat contract, the Sun Sentinel has confirmed through at NBA source, making him eligible to be dealt for the first time since February’s NBA trading deadline.
Wiggins faced a Monday deadline with his player option ahead of Tuesday’s 6 p.m. start of NBA free agency.
The next step will be to see whether the Heat puts that salary into play on the personnel market, or whether Wiggins will continue on after playing the past 1 1/2 seasons under Erik Spoelstra.
Wiggins was acquired at the February 2025 NBA trading deadline along with Davion Mitchell, Kyle Anderson and a first-round draft choice in the deal that sent Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors.
Since that deal, the Heat traded away Anderson last summer in the deal that landed guard Norman Powell from the Los Angeles Clippers, and this past week dealt the player selected with that pick from the Warriors, with guard Kasparas Jakucionis sent to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Jakucionis went out in the deal for All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. In the wake of the Antetokounmpo acquisition, the Heat wound up hard-capped at the first apron of the NBA luxury tax. That, in turn, had the Heat investigating avenues for additional cap space below their hard cap, including potentially flexibility involving Wiggins, 31.
Wiggins, who declined to speak at the Heat’s exit interviews in April, spoke privately a week earlier to the South Florida Sun Sentinel about what might come next.
“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “Obviously, I love Miami.”
While Wiggins closed the season as he started at small forward, he also spent considerable time this past season as an undersized power forward.
According to Basketball Reference’s play-by-play breakdown, Wiggins, at 6 feet 7, 210 pounds, was cast at power forward 35% of his minutes this past season, small forward 49% and shooting guard 16%.
Now, with Antetokounmpo on board, in a return it would mean Wiggins back at his natural lineup role.
Wiggins arguably is coming off the best shooting season of his career, his .784 from the foul line and .414 on 3-pointers were career highs, with his .475 from the field just two percentage points off his career best.
Wiggins also excelled on the defensive end.
“He guards one through five for us. He guards at the top of the zone for us. He’s able to do all the switching that we do with certain lineups,” Spoelstra said at midseason.
“Sometimes, because he’s so effective defensively, you forget that this guy was a big-time scorer earlier in his career.”
Asked about years vs. salary when it came to a contract decision, Wiggins politely demurred.
“I’ll probably become more engaged with it when the time comes,” he said at season’s end. “But I love Miami, and I’m happy here.”
His season ended with a 27-point performance in the Heat’s overtime play-in loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
“I always believe in myself and what I can do,” he said. “That’s all I need to know.”