<\/p>\n
Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) looks on after a play against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second half of their NBA game at the Kaseya Center on Nov. 12, 2025, in Miami.<\/p>\n
Photo by Matias J. Ocner<\/p>\n
mocner@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
After acquiring two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in a trade that can\u2019t be made official until July 6, the Miami Heat\u2019s salary cap situation hinged on a decision from veteran forward Andrew Wiggins.<\/p>\n
Wiggins made that decision just hours before Monday\u2019s 5 p.m. deadline, choosing to opt in to the $30.2 million player option in his contract with the Heat for next season and also agreeing to a two-year extension worth $34 million, multiple league sources confirmed to the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n
The Heat intends to keep Wiggins as part of this upcoming season\u2019s roster, according to a league source, but he\u2019s still immediately eligible to be traded even after he eventually signs his two-year extension.<\/p>\n
There was some hope that Wiggins would opt out of his player option to renegotiate his deal into a longer contract with a lower starting salary, giving the Heat more flexibility to operate in free agency this offseason.<\/p>\n
While Wiggins\u2019 decision to opt in and agree to a two-year extension with the Heat doesn\u2019t lower his cap hit for this upcoming season, he will take a sizable pay cut in the second and third seasons of the deal with a projected $16.5 million salary for the 2027-28 season and a $17.5 million salary for the 2028-29 season to give the Heat more flexibility to build around Antetokounmpo in future summers. Wiggins\u2019 deal also includes a player option in the final year (2028-29).<\/p>\n
Wiggins, 31, is coming off one of the best seasons of his NBA career.<\/p>\n
In Wiggins\u2019 first full season with the Heat after the Golden State Warriors dealt him to Miami as part of the Jimmy Butler trade midway through the 2024-25 season, Wiggins averaged 15.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals and one block per game while shooting 47.5% from the field and 41.4% on 4.9 three-point attempts per game in a starting role last season.<\/p>\n
The field-goal percentage of 47.5% is the second best Wiggins has recorded during a season in his NBA career. The three-point percentage of 41.4% is a career best for Wiggins.<\/p>\n
Wiggins, who just finished his 12th NBA season, has proven to be an elite complementary player when surrounded by elite talent. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, was voted into the 2022 All-Star Game as a starter and logged the second-most minutes for the Warriors during the 2022 playoff run that ended in an NBA championship.<\/p>\n
Wiggins is expected take on a more complementary role in the Heat\u2019s starting lineup following the offseason addition of Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n
After Wiggins\u2019 decision, the Heat\u2019s current salary-cap breakdowns includes 10 players on standard contracts for next season: Antetokounmpo ($58.5 million for 2026-27), Bam Adebayo ($49.5 million), Wiggins ($30.2 million), Nikola Jovic ($16.2 million), Bobby Portis ($14.5 million), Davion Mitchell ($12.4 million), Dru Smith ($2.6 million), Pelle Larsson ($2.3 million), Myron Gardner ($500,000 of $2.6 million salary guaranteed) and Ryan Conwell (undetermined salary figure). NBA teams are essentially required to carry at least 14 players on standard contracts and can have up to 15 players on standard deals during the regular season.<\/p>\n
While Wiggins won\u2019t hit free agency, four players on the Heat\u2019s season-ending 15-man standard roster who are set to enter free agency this summer are Norman Powell (unrestricted free agent), Simone Fontecchio (unrestricted free agent), Jahmir Young (unrestricted free agent) and Keshad Johnson (unrestricted free agent).<\/p>\n
The Heat also has two players who ended last season on a two-way contract about to hit free agency, too \u2014 Vlad Goldin (restricted free agent) and Trevor Keels (unrestricted free agent). Since the Heat extended a two-way contract qualifying offer to Goldin to make him a restricted free agent, the only way he can be poached away is by another team signing him to a standard deal.<\/p>\n
If Goldin signs the qualifying offer to return to the Heat on a two-way contract, Miami would have two players signed to two-way deals in undrafted Miami Hurricanes standout guard Tre Donaldson and Goldin. NBA teams can have up to three players signed to two-way contracts at any one time.<\/p>\n
Two-way contracts, which pay half the NBA rookie minimum and do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax, allow for players to be on their NBA team\u2019s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games with other game action having to come in the G League. Two-way deals can be swapped out at any time.<\/p>\n
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR POWELL AND REST OF ROSTER<\/p>\n
Assuming the Heat signs Conwell to a minimum contract that would come with a cap hit of about $1.4 million, the Heat has about $190 million committed to salaries for 10 players after Wiggins\u2019 decision to opt in.<\/p>\n
With the projected salary cap for the 2026-27 season set at $165 million and the projected luxury tax set at $200.5 million, this means the Heat enters free agency already approaching luxury tax territory. With three or four roster spots still to fill for next season, the Heat is also on its way to approaching the first apron of $209 million.<\/p>\n
The issue for the Heat is because it took back more salary than it sent out in the trade for Antetokounmpo and used a trade exception created last season to acquire Portis, it will be hard-capped at the projected first apron of $209 million for the entirety of next season.<\/p>\n
That leaves the Heat just about $19 million under the first apron to add four to five players to standard contracts for next season.<\/p>\n
Even if the Heat opts to begin this season with 14 players on standard deals (one fewer than the maximum) and minimum salaries (counting about $2.5 million each) are used to fill three of the open spots, the Heat is still left with just about $12.5 million to offer Powell for this upcoming season.<\/p>\n
Considering that Powell made $20.5 million and was selected for his first NBA All-Star Game this past season, he\u2019s not going to take a pay cut of $8 million to return to the Heat. So the expectation is that Powell won\u2019t be back with the Heat next season unless it can find a way to create more room below the first apron threshold to re-sign him.<\/p>\n
The Heat can shed salary through a trade to create more room under the first apron.<\/p>\n
Trading Jovic\u2019s $16.2 million salary for this upcoming season into salary cap space or for a cheaper contract would give the Heat more money below the first apron to offer Powell. But it could be challenging for the Heat to find a trade suitor to take Jovic, considering his four-year, $62.4 million extension begins this season and the rough year he\u2019s coming off of, without attaching a draft pick to him.<\/p>\n
Powell, 33, closed his first year with the Heat with averages of 21.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 47% from the field and 38% from three-point range last regular season. He finished just short of surpassing his single-season career-high of 21.8 points per game.<\/p>\n
If Powell isn\u2019t back, the Heat will have room under the first apron to use most of its $15.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception. This exception can be split between multiple players.<\/p>\n
Miami also has minimum contracts and the $5.5 million biannual exception \u2014 but no cap space \u2014 to offer outside free agents up until the first apron.<\/p>\n
Among the impending free agents who could help fill the Heat\u2019s need for three-point shooting and would be in the price range of a minimum contract to a portion\/all of the midlevel exception are Bradley Beal, Jordan Clarkson, Simone Fontecchio, Tim Hardaway Jr., Quentin Grimes, Luke Kennard, Khris Middleton, Kelly Oubre Jr., Landry Shamet, Anfernee Simons and Gabe Vincent.<\/p>\n
Hardaway, whose father Tim Hardaway Sr. has his jersey retired by the Heat and also grew up in Miami, is expected to be a Heat target in free agency, according to a league source. He\u2019s among a select group of skilled outside shooters that the Heat is expected to call when free agency opens this week.<\/p>\n
The Heat and other NBA teams have been allowed to negotiate with their own impending free agents since June 14 \u2014 the day after the last game of the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n
Free agents can start negotiating with every team in the league on Tuesday at 6 p.m. But most free agent signings aren\u2019t eligible to become official until the league\u2019s moratorium is lifted on July 6.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 1:10 PM.<\/p>\n
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