Heat's Recent Wiggins, Mitchell Trades Add to Magic's Challenge in East Race

The Miami Heat on Wednesday offloaded suspended star Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors. The Heat received Andrew Wiggins among other assets in the multiple-team deal, and are still acquiring other options. As the NBA trade deadline approaches Thursday, the Orlando Magic have been spectators.

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) drives past Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) during the second half at Kaseya Center. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

After two NBA Finals appearances and a nasty divorce, the Jimmy Butler era in Miami came to a close Wednesday night. The Heat dealt the five-time All-NBA forward to the Golden State Warriors.

In return for a player who wasn't playing at all, Miami gets Andrew Wiggins, a 2022 All-Star himself. The Heat, who are looking down at the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference standings, have improved their roster.

PJ Tucker and Kyle Anderson were also included in the return, but Tucker was flipped to Toronto for Davion Mitchell on Thursday. The possibility exists that Anderson could be rerouted as well.

And the Heat will receive a top 10-protected first-round pick in 2025. If ithe pick doesn't convey, the same protections carry over to 2026 before becoming unprotected for 2027.

During his five-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic's division rival, Butler helped lead Miami to three Eastern Conference Finals appearances and two trips to the NBA Finals. In each of the first five seasons, Butler led the Heat in win shares, per Basketball Reference.

But a rift developed between the organization and Butler this season, unofficially forcing the team's hand in trading him away. Butler appeared in only 25 games this season and was suspended by the Heat three separate times in January.

Wiggins is a positive return for the Heat who, like the Magic, finds themselves entrenched in a tight Eastern Conference mid-pack.

Below is a quick comparison of the numbers for Wiggins and Butler this season.

Jimmy Butler	Andrew Wiggins
25 games	43 games
17.0 points	17.6 points
5.2 rebounds	4.6 rebounds
4.8 assists	2.3 assists
54.0 FG%	44.4 FG%
36.1 3PT%	37.9 3PT%

Wiggins is also less expensive than Butler. Just 11 minutes after the news of Butler becoming a Warrior broke, he reportedly signed a two-year, $121-million contract extension with Golden State.

Wiggins' deal is worth $26.3 million this season and has two years with $58.4 million remaining (player option in the final season). Butler, on the other hand, is owed $45.2 million through 2024-25 before the extension kicks in.

Mitchell, who's averaging 6.3 points and 4.6 assists in 44 games, is a defense-first reserve guard on the final year of his rookie deal. He'll enter restricted free agency this summer.

Toronto Raptors guard Davion Mitchell (45) reacts after a play by guard RJ Barrett (9) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Scotiabank Arena. | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

If Anderson sticks around, he has $8.8 million on the books for this year and less than $19 million over the following two.

Thus, Miami could have some additional financial flexibility to make marginal additions surrounding Herro, Adebayo and Wiggins, plus the additional Warriors first-rounder whenever it eventually conveys.

Entering Thursday's slate of games, Orlando (25-27, 8th in East) trails Miami (25-24, 6th in East) by 1.5 games as both teams fight to claw back into the top-6 of the conference and avoid the Play-In tournament.

The Magic won the first two games this season with Miami, then squandered double-figure fourth-quarter leads in the next two games. Instead of holding the head-to-head tiebreaker for playoff seeding purposes, Orlando and Miami drew even.

Detroit, which was sixth before falling to 25-26 after a Darius Garland buzzer-beater on Wednesday, received Lindy Waters III and Josh Richardson in the trade. The Magic are a half-game behind the Pistons in seventh.

The Magic, who have lost 11 of 14 games, have until 3 p.m. Thursday if they choose to shake up their roster. The players and coaches, meanwhile, are focused on controlling what they can control.

Their opposition, however, isn't waiting around.

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