One of the primary reasons the Miami Heat struggled at times on offense in 2024-25, particularly after the Jimmy Butler trade, was their overall inability to get to the rim. On top of going to the free throw line at one of the lowest rates in the NBA, the Heat had the 5th fewest field goal attempts per game from inside five feet.
Add in the fact the Heat were a middle of the road three point shooting team, and there is a reason why Miami finished 24th in points per game last year.
The main player they got back for Butler, Andrew Wiggins, used to be someone who would attack the rim. And for Miami to take a step forward in 2025-26, they need him to return to some of his roots.
Andrew Wiggins needs to attack the rim more in 2025-26
When Wiggins first came into the NBA, he was a player who tried to attack the rim. As recently as 2017-18, 62% of his points came from two-point shots.
But since then, Wiggins has morphed more and more into a three-point shooter. He's a career 35% shooter from three, which is decent, but he has also seen his free-throw attempts take a dip.
During his sophomore campaign with Minnesota in 2015-16, Wiggins attempted seven free throws a game. He has seen this metric dip as low as 1.9 attempts per game with Golden State, but even this past season, it was 4.3 free throw attempts per game.
When Wiggins got traded to Miami, the percentage of points he scored from two-point shots went up by four percentage points compared to his usage at Golden State.
Still, during his 17 regular-season games with the Heat, he only scored 48.9% of his points from two and finished at 45.6% for the season. Prior to 2024-25, Wiggins had never scored less than 50% of his points from two.
Heat have shooters in 2025-26
The translation of all of this is that Miami has shooters from deep.
Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, and Davion Mitchell can all provide firepower from downtown.
Sure, if Wiggins is left wide open, he is competent enough to get the green light to shoot. But Miami doesn't need to try and all stand around the arc launching threes; they still need someone willing to attack the rim.
That's where the hope is that Wiggins doesn't continue to morph into a guy who just settles for threes. They need him to be willing to attack, draw contact, and get points the hard way if the Heat are going to be improved on the offensive side in 2025-26.