MIAMI (AP) — Things rarely happen in the NBA at 8:57 a.m. on a Sunday. But that was the moment when Miami's newest acquisitions — Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Kyle Anderson — walked into the Heat interview room for the first time.
The reason was simple: There's a lot of work to do.
With team president Pat Riley offering the official greeting, the three new Heat players — who landed in Miami as part of Jimmy Butler's trade to Golden State last week — practiced with the team for the first time Sunday. All could make their Heat debuts Monday, when Miami plays host to the Boston Celtics.
“It’s time for a new chapter," Wiggins said. “It’s hard. But that’s the NBA, transitioning midseason. That’s the NBA. It’s a business. I’m here. I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited. I think we can do something special here. They've got a nice squad, great coaching staff, amazing fans. I'm looking forward to it.”
Wiggins, in his 11th season, was averaging 17.6 points for the Warriors this season. He has averaged 18.5 points over 749 games in his career.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said multiple times in the days following the trade that without Wiggins, Golden State wouldn’t have won the 2022 NBA title. Stephen Curry was NBA Finals MVP after averaging 31.2 points in that six-game win over Boston, but Wiggins was Golden State’s second-best player in that series — averaging 18.3 points and a team-best 8.8 rebounds.
“He changed a lot for us for the better,” Curry said. “I hope his experience with us changed a lot for him as well. He’s got a lot of basketball left in him, obviously.”
The Heat feel the same way about Mitchell, the No. 9 pick in the 2021 draft who is joining his third team after stints with Sacramento and Toronto. The 26-year-old guard — known for defense, which surely will endear him in Miami — is a career 7.3-point scorer.
“Everyone's just playing hard,” Mitchell said. “It's kind of the culture here.”
The new trio got introduced to the Heat ways on Saturday night; their arrival just happened to coincide with the annual Heat Gala, which typically raises more than $1 million for the Miami Heat Charitable Fund. They met new teammates, coaches and staff, even played the drums — the whole team was part of that at the gala — and watched Riley dance for about three hours.
Wiggins, Anderson and Mitchell didn't dance much, Riley said. He wanted their energy saved for Sunday's practice.
“I have a tremendous amount of compassion and empathy, really, for people who have to move around,” Riley said. “I moved around four or five times in my short career. It’s not easy. I just want to make it very comfortable for them. ... They are now officially part of what we do believe in, which is our culture here with the Heat. And we believe they are perfect players to be part of that.”
Anderson, who is joining his fifth team after San Antonio, Memphis, Minnesota and Golden State, is a career 6.8-point scorer. He came into the league in the same draft as Wiggins, going as the No. 30 pick in the first round in 2014.
He learned a lesson from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich that stuck with him: Play regular-season games like they're playoff games. And he noticed that in Spurs-vs.-Heat games, Popovich and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra — who have deep respect for one another — seemed to take those games maybe a bit more seriously.
“That kind of just made me have an eye on Spo and always watch him and how he moved and how he coached and I really grew a lot of respect for him," Anderson said.
Wiggins — who turns 30 later this month — was the No. 1 pick by Cleveland, got traded to Minnesota for Kevin Love before his first season began and was the overwhelming pick as rookie of the year.
Love, now a Heat forward, sees teaming with Wiggins as a “full-circle moment.”
“I know what type of a guy he is and what he’s capable of,” Love said. “I think not only is he going to add to what we do on the floor but off the floor as well. He is a Heat guy. He feels like that. He plays both sides of the ball. When he’s engaged, playing hard and he’s healthy, talent-wise, there’s not many out there like him. He’s 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.”
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