![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2260851116-e1784988359624.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Andrew Wiggins, Miami Heat<\/p>\n
Earlier this summer, the Miami Heat<\/a> reached an agreement with Andrew Wiggins on a three-year $64 million contract extension.<\/p>\n Wiggins has been with the Heat since the 2025 trade deadline. Last season, he played in 68 regular-season games, averaging 15.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists, shooting 51.6% from two-point range and 41.4% from deep.<\/p>\n However, we\u2019re yet to see Wiggins reach the level of two-way impact we saw from him when he was a catalyst for the Golden State Warriors<\/a>\u2018 championship in 2022.<\/p>\n With that in mind, ESPN\u2019s Zach Kram<\/a>, who has graded every move this offseason, has given Miami a C grade for their latest deal with Wiggins.<\/p>\n \u201cWiggins\u2019 extension is reportedly coming in two parts. First, he\u2019s opting into his $30.2 million player option for 2026-27,\u201d Kram explained. \u201cThen he\u2019s adding two years and $34 million afterward, with another player option in the final year.\u201d<\/p>\n Kram continued.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the short term, the first year of Wiggins\u2019 new pact is more problematic, because rather than spread out the $64 million total more evenly across three seasons \u2014 or even backload the contract to make the 2026-27 payment as small as possible \u2014 Wiggins will earn the most money next season..Taking the full $30.2 million next season is Wiggins\u2019 prerogative \u2014 that\u2019s the whole point of a player option \u2014 but restructuring his new deal differently could have helped Miami retain free agent guard\u00a0Norman Powell.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiggins\u2019 two-way ability will be vital for the Heat this season, as they look to build their system around Giannis Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n Heat Expected To Avoid Russell Westbrook Deal<\/p>\n While Miami gets a middling grade for their deal with Wiggins, they may redeem themselves by avoiding Russell Westbrook in free agency. Pat Riley will undoubtedly be scouring the market after missing out on LeBron James, who opted to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> on July 24.<\/p>\n However, according to a scout who spoke with Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald,<\/a> Westbrook is would be a mistake for Miami.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t touch him in a million years,\u201d the scout told Jackson. \u201cThe way he plays, he can\u2019t really shoot. You need a more deferential system kind of guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson then noted that Westbrook\u2019s limited perimeter game would hurt the Heat\u2019s ability to build a successful roster around their new superstar.<\/p>\n \u201cThough he was 13th in the league in assists last season, he\u2019s a career 30.2% three-point shooter, and it thus would be difficult to play him alongside Antetokounmpo and Adebayo and have the necessary spacing offensively.\u201d<\/p>\n Heat Should Target Shooters<\/p>\n If Riley does continue to make moves in the coming weeks, he would be wise to place a premium on shooting talent. Seth Curry and Doug McDermott are currently both free agents, and would provide the floor-spacing the Heat need to get the best out of Giannis.<\/p>\n At this point in the summer, locating the best single-skill talents may be the best path forward. Of course, Miami could also explore a deal with Bradley Beal to add some playmaking to the bench unit, too.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, additional shooting should certainly be the focus for Miami\u2019s front office. If they can find the right guys, Erik Spoelstra\u2019s team will be a tough out for anyone in the Eastern Conference next season.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdam Taylor<\/a> is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Miami Heat for Heavy. He holds bylines for CelticsBlog, USA Today and Yardbarker. Adam also covers the WWE and AEW. He has a bachelor\u2019s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Wiggins, Miami Heat Earlier this summer, the Miami Heat reached an agreement with Andrew Wiggins on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-352275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}