Despite a quiet offseason, the Miami Heat may soon make a big trade, with the Los Angeles Lakers no less. There have been swirling rumors that Heat wing Andrew Wiggins may be available, and the Lakers may have interest.
According to reports, the Heat have set their price for Wiggins by demanding Dalton Knecht, a first-round pick, and Rui Hachimura in return. Thus far, the Lakers have been seemingly resistant to moving Hachimura, and a first for Wiggins.
With the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith, the Lakers could use Wiggins to replace him, given their lack of perimeter defense. The Lakers clearly like Hachimura’s versatility and apparently don’t view the gap between him and Wiggins to be enough to warrant the inclusion of a future first and a recent first-round selection in Knecht.
Will the Miami Heat trade Andrew Wiggins to the Lakers?
They may have a point, but the Heat don’t have any reason to trade Wiggins unless they get a good offer for him. They could use him themselves, but if they can get Hachimura, a future first and Knecht, who could help to replace Duncan Robinson, then that would obviously make sense for the Heat.
Neither the Heat nor the Lakers has had a particularly good offseason thus far. The Heat struck out on Kevin Durant, and while they did get a potential draft steal in Kasparas Jakucionis, they may not be significantly better than they were last season.
On the other hand, the Lakers got significantly better ahead of the trade deadline but still have a few glaring flaws that could derail their title hopes. On paper, they could help one another.
An Andrew Wiggins trade could help the Heat and Lakers
The Heat are short on assets and understandably asking a lot for a player in Wiggins that has value around the league as a defensive wing stopper who can knock down open threes and score in bursts. Even so, the Heat may be eyeing having cap space in the summer of 2026.
Wiggins has a $30 million player option for the season after next, while Hachimura will be an unrestricted free agent after next season. That keeps the possibility of a trade open if the two sides can haggle out the details. The biggest sticking point is the first-round pick, and the Heat may have to settle for seconds or a pick swap in its place.
That may be enough for a deal to get done. If it is, then the Heat could be better off in the long-term while the Lakers could be better off in the short term.
