(Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)
The Miami Heat are expected to have a busy offseason, spearheaded by an attempt to acquire Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. It is widely expected that a resolution will be reached ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft.
Though the Heat, who are well below the first and second aprons, will still need to find a way to fill out their roster — Giannis or no Giannis — especially with more floor spacing and shot creation. And a pair of Thunder guards that fit the former could enter the trade market this offseason, according to a recent report from Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.
“The moves Oklahoma City is expected to make are more likely to involve the Nos. 12, 17 and 37 picks it holds in the fast-approaching draft,” Fischer wrote. “Or, perhaps, by trading away Isaiah Joe or Aaron Wiggins to create some financial flexibility as the dreaded second apron looms.”
Why Heat should target Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins:
Obviously, the Heat’s foremost priority is to acquire Antetokounmpo. Hunting the star will always be atop their shopping list. But whether or not they are able to successfully pull that off remains to be seen. But that should not preclude the Heat from thinking about which players they should target in the interim.
They don’t have many avenues to acquire a lot of talent via trade, but they do have two trade exceptions — a $16.8 million trade exception that expires on July 7, and a $5.6 million TPE that expires on Aug. 15 — created last summer that they can utilize. While neither cracked my initial 10-player TPE list, each fit under the $16.8M TPE parameters. Joe is on the books for $11.3 million and Wiggins for $9.1 million in 2026-27.
Joe would immediately become the Heat’s best 3-point shooter and floor spacer. He’s canned 41.5 percent of his 5.5 triples over the last four years, and has taken 77 percent of his attempts from there. His volume and gravity in limited opportunity made defenses account for him, which would be a huge asset to the Heat with Antetokounmpo, hypothetically.
Wiggins isn’t quite the marksman that his teammate is, but he’s still an impactful two-way wing off the bench. Wiggins is also a good shooter, having buried nearly 40 percent (39.9 percent) of his spot-up attempts over the last three seasons. He has a knack for always being in the right spots defensively and makes winning plays with his hustle, spatial awareness, aggression and length.
Neither is great at creating their own shot. And the Heat’s improved, yet inconsistent guard play makes shot creation elsewhere a necessity. However, what they lack in shot creation, they also lack in pure floor spacing, despite being the league’s 11th-most efficient 3-point shooting team (17th in 3PA per 100) last year. Both could be sparkplugs off the bench in any context and, most importantly, fill a necessary void from the potential departures of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell at a fraction of the cost.
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