The Miami Heat parted with the face of their franchise recently as they traded Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors, after the 35-year-old had made it clear that he no longer wanted to remain with the organization and had been suspended thrice in quick succession.
For the Heat, the centerpiece of the trade was Andrew Wiggins. And we saw a glimpse of what he can bring to the table against the Toronto Raptors.
Wiggins had not impressed in his first two outings for the Heat but he put up 25 points, 8 rebounds, an assist and 2 steals in the win over the Raptors.
If Wiggins can keep performing like this on a consistent basis, the Heat might have some hope of making a playoff run. One should not forget that he has a ring from his time with the Warriors and was central to that triumph a few years back.
Wiggins’ new teammates certainly seem very happy to have him around. According to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, Tyler Herro said: “We’re all rooting for Wiggs, man.
“Great guy, we love having him here. We’re super happy to have him. He’s just going to continue to get more comfortable with everything we’re doing. We’re trying to feed as much life and as much confidence into him as possible. We’re really happy for him. We got another game where we’re going to really need his contribution on Sunday.”
Wiggins stepped up when the Heat needed him against the Raptors as he totaled 13 points between the fourth quarter and overtime period.
Erik Spoelstra said about Wiggins’ late-game performance: “They were draped all over Tyler and we actually were able to get some pretty good mileage on the two-man action between Tyler and Bam. But then they were loading up. So we just were throwing the ball to Wiggs and letting him make some plays. He had two really good post-ups going down the stretch.
“It shows you his skill level and that’s something that we need, another guy that you can just throw the ball to and he can go make something happen. That drive he had down the stretch going to his left, great finish. And then the two-way basketball on the other side. He really had some key defensive stops against some clever offensive players.”
So, it looks like Wiggins is already making a positive impression in Miami. On the other hand, Butler has been even more impressive for the Warriors.
In the five games in which he has played for the Warriors, they are 4-1 and only narrowly lost to the Dallas Mavericks on a night Kyrie Irving dropped 42 points.
Butler seems to have added a dimension to this Warriors team that they were missing and now, some are viewing them as outside Championship contenders.
Steph Curry and Draymond Green certainly know what it takes to win rings. And Butler has been one of the playoff performers in the league in recent years, taking the Heat to two NBA Finals since 2019 and narrowly missing out on a third.