If the Miami Heat are serious about building around Giannis Antetokounmpo, the blueprint is already sitting there in plain sight. The path runs through the kind of wing who can do a little bit of everything - score when the game demands it, fade into the background when it doesn’t, and still punish defenses for giving him too much space.
That is the lane Khris Middleton occupied for the Milwaukee Bucks, and it’s the lane Andrew Wiggins will be asked to step into for Miami.
Middleton spent 12 seasons in Milwaukee, with every one of them coming alongside Antetokounmpo. His best stretch ran from 2017-18 through 2021-22, a span that brought him three All-Star selections and helped carry the Bucks to their first championship in 50 years.
During that run, Middleton averaged 19.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.2 made three-pointers per game while shooting .464/.386/.884.
But the job was never just about the box score. Middleton was the connective tissue.
He could take over as a scorer when Milwaukee needed a bucket, settle in as the third option when Jrue Holiday was rolling, and hold up defensively. He also gave the Bucks a steady stream of threes, midrange jumpers, and self-created offense when opponents decided not to treat him like a threat.
That is the standard Miami needs to chase in 2026-27, even if Wiggins won’t mirror every part of Middleton’s game.
The encouraging part is that Wiggins has enough in his profile to make this work. He owns a career scoring average of 18.2 points per game, and while he dropped to 15.4 points per contest in 2025-26, he did it on .475/.414/.784 shooting and still produced 18.2 points per 36 minutes.
He was even more productive in 2024-25, when he posted 21.1 points per 36 minutes, which suggests there’s still a higher gear available.
The biggest difference is in the passing game. Wiggins has never been the distributor Middleton was, so Miami may have to adjust its expectations there. Still, the broader outline remains workable if Wiggins can raise his scoring volume and spend more time operating from the midrange.
And there are signs he can do that. In 2025-26, Wiggins ranked in the 81st percentile in midrange shot creation and the 82nd percentile in midrange shot quality, according to Basketball Index. The finishing part of the equation was less impressive, though, as he checked in at the 40th percentile in midrange shot making efficiency.
There’s another piece Miami can lean on, too: Wiggins ranked in the 96th percentile in perimeter isolation defense.
For Wiggins to really help unlock Antetokounmpo’s first season, though, the midrange has to become more reliable once defenses start chasing him off the three-point line. If he can combine that shot-making with strong defense and floor spacing, the Heat may have their Middleton. And if that happens, Antetokounmpo’s 2026-27 team can reach its ceiling.
In Other News...
Giannis Viral Clip Has Heat Fans Debating What Really Happened
A video clip making the rounds this week has Heat fans and the rest of the basketball world doing a double take, with Giannis Antetokounmpo at the center of a scene that unfolded at a Greek restaurant. In the footage, he first comes off sternly when a fan asks him to move tables, then shifts course after learning they share Greek roots and invites him to join.
The moment has stirred plenty of reaction because nobody can quite agree on what they just watched. Some viewers are taking it at face value as a spontaneous exchange, while others are skeptical and wonder whether the whole thing was staged, leaving the clip to live in that gray area between viral entertainment and something more genuine. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Just Sent A Clear Message About Pelle Larsson
Pelle Larssons rapid rise has given the Heat another young player worth locking in, and Miami acted accordingly by agreeing to a four-year, $60 million contract extension with the Swedish wing. Larsson had been on a minimum-salary deal after being drafted in 2024, but his play has taken a clear step forward in his second season, turning him into a key part of the teams rotation and making this the kind of move that signals real trust from the organization.
The extension comes with an ascending salary structure that starts around $13.5 million in 2027/28 and includes a mutual option for the 2030/31 season, putting it in the same neighborhood as recent rookie scale extensions around the league. For Miami, it is another reminder that the front office sees Larsson as more than a depth piece, and for Larsson it is the reward for converting a low-risk beginning into a long-term role with the franchise. [Read more 🡒]
Donovan Mitchell Just Validated What Heat Fans Believe About This Roster
Donovan Mitchell gave Heat fans a little more external validation this week when he used an appearance on the Joe and Jada show to talk up Miami as a real Eastern Conference threat. Mitchell pointed directly to Klay Thompson as the kind of addition that can make a team tougher to guard, and it fit neatly with the way Miami has tried to build around spacing and shot-making around its core.
Mitchell also made clear he still values Thompsons shooting reputation, even with the veteran coming off a down statistical season, and he pushed back on any suggestion that V.J. Edgecombe is simply the better pure shooter. For the Heat, that matters because the conversation around the roster keeps circling back to how many different players can bend a defense with the three ball, and the next round of regular-season meetings with Cleveland should only sharpen that debate. [Read more 🡒]