MIAMI — The goal when Andrew Wiggins was acquired by the Heat at last season’s NBA trading deadline was to get him to complement, as he did during his best of times with the Golden State Warriors.
And then injuries and absences wound up requiring something more, something closer to the role he had during his earliest NBA days, as the No. 1 overall pick in 2014 with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But with the Heat again closer to whole, Wiggins finds himself in a wholly different role than at the start of the season, with Norman Powell and Tyler Herro now both in place.
Those possibilities were on display in Saturday night’s victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, when Herro scored early, Powell scored late, and Wiggins consistently and quietly worked his way to a 28-point performance on 9-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers.
“When we’re a full squad, everyone healthy, we’re very hard to deal with,” Wiggins said. “Because from the first man to the last man, everyone can go in there and do something special to change the outcome of the game.”
So instead of having to force the action, as was the case when Herro was out or Powell was ailing, there was a flow to Wiggins’ game against the Grizzlies, opportunities that presented themselves.
That type of play combined with Wiggins’ perimeter defense makes him somewhat of a silent killer, which also is an approach truer to his personality.
“For us,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, “I think it’s really allowed him to showcase how versatile he can be as a defender. He guards one through five for us. He guards at the top of the zone for us. He’s able to do all the switching that we do with certain lineups.
“Sometimes, because he’s so effective defensively, you forget that this guy was a big-time scorer earlier in his career.”
In the victory over the Grizzlies that extended the Heat’s winning streak to three, the Heat announced during a stoppage that Wiggins had reached 15,000 points for his career, an impending milestone Wiggins had been unaware of.
“The fact that he’s putting up 15,000 points, that’s not nothing,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat returning to action Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks at the start of a two-game trip that concludes Thursday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. “I think he’s also a guy that fits it in the way that we play. It’s a fine line, because he can also get lost a little bit. I think he’s more of a play-off-of-others and play-off-of-the-flow of the game.
“You don’t want him to go to many possessions where he’s not able to be aggressive. He’s a great player when he can play off of other things that are happening. He can just finish some plays rather than create.”
The key with Wiggins seemingly is not to force, but also not to forget.
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“I just think we have so many pieces offensively and we can play so many different ways,” Powell said, “that when guys are trying to take somebody out of the game, it opens up space for somebody else to attack.
“I think we have a lot of versatility with whatever lineup we have on the floor. Obviously, Wiggs is a tremendous talent, No. 1 pick. He does his thing, we trust him.
“I just think it’s great that down the line, when you’re trying to game plan to take somebody out of the game, somebody else can get hot. And that’s the bonus of this team.”
So, yes, Powell is glad to be back after his break before the All-Star Game due to back pain. Yes, Herro only now is finding a rhythm 13 games into his season, following ankle, toe and rib ailments. But it’s as if Wiggins now also can get back to his best game, as well, because of something closer to a complete cast.
“With Norm, Tyler, everyone at full health, it’s just a scary sight,” Wiggins said, “We can play with anybody offensively.”
