Heat's Erik Spoelstra drops 'champion' admission on Andrew Wiggins after Jimmy Butler trade
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Coming off the news that the Miami Heat have traded Jimmy Butler, the return included such players as Toronto Raptors’ Davion Mitchell, Golden State Warriors’ Kyle Anderson, and former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins. As former Warriors now Heat star Wiggins got an emotional sendoff from his former head coach Steve Kerr, he would receive praise from his new one Erik Spoelstra, plus other players on the team.
Speaking Friday at shootaround as the trade was made official the day prior, Spoelstra would be asked about his new wing in Wiggins. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald would ask about Wiggins and mention how a scout told the reporter that he could “blend in” with any team which garnered a positive response from Spoelstra.
“Beautiful compliment,” Spoelstra said. “That should be printed for every player coming into the league that you can play with anyone on both sides of the floor and make it work and be winning basketball. Everything we heard about him from Minnesota to Golden State, he made such a positive impression and he's a champion.”
“His scoring, putting pressures on defenses, defensively, he's such a unique, dynamic versatile defender,” Spoelstra continued. “Fits right into how we defend."
Heat’s Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson on Andrew Wiggins
Wiggins has been with Golden State since 2019 where this season so far, he was averaging 17.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from beyond the arc. Subsequently, the Heat’s dynamic guard Duncan Robinson would call Wiggins a “super dynamic player.”
"He's a super dynamic player,” Robinson said. “Defensively as someone who's guarded me in the past, his ability to get deflections. His athleticism and length are really unique. Offensively, his ability to play with the ball, off the ball, cut, offensive rebound, all sorts of things. He's going to be fun to play with."
Another star guard Heat’s first-time All-Star Tyler Herro would emphasize the fact that Wiggins is a “champion” as he won in 2021 with the Warriors. Funny enough, Golden State beat the Boston Celtics who defeated the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games off a late missed three-pointer for Butler.
"The athleticism [stands out]. Somebody who's a champion. He knows what it takes to get there,” Herro said.
Bam Adebayo, Kevin Love speak on Andrew Wiggins’ fit with Heat
The Heat’s captain Bam Adebayo would also speak Friday morning at shootaround about his new teammate Wiggins, who is likely to be inserted in the starting lineup where Butler was later in the season. Consequently, defense was the main aspect that came to Adebayo’s mind as Wiggins is a solid two-way player.
"He's obviously a top-tier defender. His length, athleticism, offensively a great guy who can catch and shoot and cut and play make with the ball in his hands, can do a little bit of everything. Will help our offense and help us a lot."
It seems more and more likely that Wiggins will easily be accustomed to the players in Miami, though no doubt it’s hard to move from a location that was home for many seasons. Heat veteran Kevin Love spoke about Wiggins and claimed that he is a “natural fit” for the team.
“He is a Heat guy, he feels like that, he plays both sides of the ball,” Love continued. “When he's engaged and playing hard and he's healthy, I mean talent wise there's not many out there like him. So I think he's also a selfless player, a guy that wants to win, a guy that has won at the highest level, has been around some of the greatest players to ever play this game. I think it's a natural fit for him."
Miami is 25-24 which puts them sixth in the Eastern Conference before the group takes on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.
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