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The Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat have maintained further negotiations on a trade involving Andrew Wiggins, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The Heat would be looking to land Rui Hachimura and his expiring contract, plus further expiring money to match salaries.
After reporting the Lakers checked in with the Heat about Wiggins' price, sources tell ClutchPoints that trade talks have advanced to the next step, though nothing is considered imminent as of right now. ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel previously reported Miami has made Wiggins very available so far this summer and has maintained that stance.
Wiggins, 30, is coming off a solid season in which he averaged 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and just under a steal per night while shooting 45% from the floor, 37% from 3-point range and 76% from the line. He played 60 games between his stints with the Golden State Warriors and Heat, after being the centerpiece of the Jimmy Butler trade.
Hachimura, 27, also had a really nice year for the Lakers, averaging 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and a little less than a steal per night on 51/41/77 shooting splits. He has improved every year he has been a Laker and is quite popular throughout the organization.
A Wiggins-Hachimura swap wouldn't work straight up, so one of either Maxi Kleber or Gabe Vincent's contracts would have to also be included. League sources believe Miami would push for Dalton Knecht in the trade, as the Lakers may not want to trade their 2031 or '32 first-round pick before they address their vacant center position. Miami might also look to move Kyle Anderson and the two years, $18.8 million left on his contract.
If the Lakers push to keep Hachimura out of the trade, they would almost certainly have to include some first-round draft capital, as well as either the No. 55 pick in this year's draft or a future pick swap, though sources do indicate Miami likes Hachimura's shooting ability at his size.
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Now, fans may be wondering why the Lakers would entertain this kind of deal while their center spot is in such dire straits, but league sources say Rob Pelinka hasn't been thrilled with the asking prices he has been presented with this summer in trade talks. If they went ahead with this deal or something similar, look for the Lakers to acquire next year's starting center with their mid-level exception. As things stand right now, they would have access to the taxpayer mid-level exception, worth $5.7 million.
It's also possible these kinds of rumors are being floated so that those teams the Lakers have been holding trade talks with for a starting center might believe they're serious about using their trade assets on something else if prices for centers don't drop. This is smokescreen season, after all.
For the Lakers, this deal would make sense as so much of their salary cap is devoted to players who naturally defend power forwards. They desperately lacked footspeed on the perimeter last season and Wiggins addresses that issue. His ability to knock down open triples makes him one of the more popular wings on the market this offseason.
For the Heat, they land a younger wing in Hachimura and a lot more financial flexibility than they currently have to work with. If Knecht is also included in the trade, they'd be able to maximize his potential in their development program, which has a nice track record of molding young players with his skill set.
Again, nothing is necessarily imminent, but whispers on this front have been swirling over the last week or so and these conversations are expected to continue as the league heads into Wednesday's first round of the draft.
