After previously reporting that the Lakers checked in with the Heat to inquire on Andrew Wiggins‘ price, Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints says the two teams have continued to explore the possibility of a Wiggins trade, though nothing is imminent.
As Irwin details, Rui Hachimura and his expiring contract would likely be the centerpiece of any deal, with another expiring contract (either Maxi Kleber‘s or Gabe Vincent‘s) necessary for salary-matching purposes. According to Irwin, league sources believe the Heat would also try to push for the inclusion of 2024 first-round pick Dalton Knecht.
A source tells Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald that the Heat are “very open” to moving Wiggins, who was part of last season’s Jimmy Butler trade with Golden State. Trading him for expiring salaries would create additional cap flexibility for Miami in the summer of 2026.
The Lakers are also scouring the trade market for help at the center position, Irwin continues, but he has heard from league sources that the front office believes the asking price for big men so far has been too high. As a result, it’s possible Los Angeles will look to use the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception to address the center position while trying to upgrade other areas of the roster on the trade market, Irwin explains.
Here are a few more trade-related rumors from around the NBA:
- Mikal Bridges‘ and Mitchell Robinson‘s names have surfaced in Knicks trade talks this offseason, according to Frank Isola of YES Network (Twitter link). Bridges and Robinson will also both be eligible to sign contract extensions beginning in July, so I’d expect New York to explore both scenarios before determining how best to move forward.
- Prior to Wednesday’s first round, the Celtics touched base with teams in the lottery, including the Spurs at No. 14, but didn’t end up finding a deal they liked, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. While Jaylen Brown and Derrick White rumors have circulated this week, Sam Hauser is considered Boston’s top current trade candidate — Chris Mannix of SI.com said during an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast that there has been a “robust” market for Hauser (Twitter video link).
- The Cavaliers explored the possibility of trading into the first round on Wednesday, with a few picks considered to be available, but didn’t find any opportunities they deemed worthwhile, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The team holds the 49th and 58th overall picks on Thurday.
- During a press conference on Wednesday night, Bulls general manager Marc Eversley said Chicago spoke to a few teams about moving up before deciding to stand pat at No. 12 and select Noa Essengue. Everseley added that the Bulls may end up trading tonight’s No. 45 pick or using it on a draft-and-stash prospect (Twitter links via Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times).
Curious as to what Mitch and Bridges could bring but unless it’s a no-brainer, bet on continuity
The new coach should have a large say in what “continuity” should be. That’s the reason why it was important to sign him before the draft and trade period.
Well that ship has sailed
lol, Aristotle blocked me but I don’t understand why a new coach would get a “large say” in any personnel decisions, especially of that magnitude. He’s the coach and he’s new. The GM and front office decide that.
Its his defensive response, to block anybody who presents facts to him and he has no rebuttal.
Hilarious take that the head coach wouldn’t have a large say in personnel decisions. He’s the coach. Get real man
I’ve never seen anyone more obsessed with cap space than Pat Riley. This dude still thinks its 2012 and he’s going to be getting every star. Giannis isn’t walking through that door in 2026 whether he likes it or not. There’s about 10 other places Giannis would go before the Heat.
Captain, Agreed that Riley seems obsessed with cap space. But South Beach is a preferred destination, probably second only to LA. The lack of state tax helps.
History supports Reily’s optimism. LeBron, Chris Bosh, and Butler (in 2019) all came to MIA as free agents. Luka was rumored to favor going there if he became a FA. Recently KD listed MIA as an option (along with HOU). The Giannis to MIA rumors may be unfounded, but I suspect there’s a grain of truth…
Lebron, Bosh, and Butler were all traded to Miami.
Riley is looking to secure cap flexibility to obtain a star or potential start via trades.
They all weren’t
Lebron and Bosh were sign and trade deals so the trades were only a technicality. They were both free agents that had full control over their destinations.
So they were traded to Miami? Got it!
but they could’ve signed as FA but did their former teams a favor
No state tax, but you gotta deal with the annoying and very washed up Pat Riley.
@aristotle “Best nightlife in the NBA?”
NYC and LA literally have “…nightlife is undefeated” memes that are like 10+ years old at this point, and I believe there are even stats to back up good players suddenly playing bad in LA and NYC, especially on games close to the weekend. Miami will be underwater soon.
DaveyJ it depends on what you’re into.
@HoopsRumors can you please resolve the issue that I, @Davey J and @aristotle have where we cannot reply directly to each other, when neither party has the other side muted?
@DaveyJ I believe it’s a bug in the software, and they can’t fix it. We’ll live.
DaveyJ, I’ll add: don’t forget the locale. Best nightlife in the NBA. And all that comes with it.
Did anyone notice the Miami draft room was yellow and everyone was wearing purple shirts? I found that hilarious. Wondering if Pat is in the early stages of dementia. Does he think he’s secretly running the Lakers?
Purple and yellow?! Wild
The Bulls need 2 of everything and thought trading up would’ve been a good decision lol. Meanwhile the team one spot back turned that pick into 23 and a high lotto pick next year lol.
Do you just automatically end every sentence with lol, lol?
Love to see the Knicks deal for Wolf or Claxton of the Nets and get Donte back from Mjnny.
With Bridges, it’s pretty much the parties agree to an extension or he gets traded. That’s consistent with this NYK FO’s philosophy and Bridges seemed to indicate he understood that. I don’t see a problem. But you have to gauge the market for him until it’s agreed to.
With Mitch, any trade is 90% likely to be a bad one. For the NYK as constituted and built essentially by their prior HC, Mitch is more valuable to the NYK then he would be to most teams. But if there’s a roster reset (probably foolish), things could change. But I hope they at least hire a HC before doing that kind of surgery to the roster. We learned last year, or should have, that its hard to get a playoff ready defensive C at the deadline.
Wiggins for Rui and Vincent would be a nice deal for both sides.
Wiggins joins Bron and Luka, they still need a centre but he’d be a good fit as a wing defender and 4th choice scoring option.
As for the Heat, Rui is younger and I think has a little more upside. He’s got a better outside shot, helps out on the boards a little more and has a little more size. Plus Gabe was originally from here and would be a good back up guard for them
Depends if Wiggins is over his emotional distress of unknowingly raising another man’s child (which is why he kept leaving GSW to deal with).
I’m not sure that Wiggins is a great pickup for Lakers, but probably the best option they have.
Not sure how you play Luka, Lebron, Reaves, Wiggins, Finney-Smith without a legit center. Seems like if they got Wiggins, Reaves is the odd man out since he’s a turnstile on defense.
But they need him as a secondary ball handler behind Luka. They might just trade everything else for a center and keep Reaves?
Yeah personally I’d be using Reaves to go after a centre. Never thought Luka and Reaves made sense to begin with.
So in terms of Reaves contract and his value and trying make a deal for a centre, your options are pretty thin.
Walker Kessler, Clarkson and a first for Reaves and Knetch.
Derek Lively and Max Christie for Reaves
Jarrett Allen and Emoni Bates or something for Reaves and Vando
Jalen Duren and Fontecchio for Reaves
I think you’re overvaluing Rui dramatically.
He’s shot much better from deep over the last 2 years, but he’s got little else to offer. The Lakers have been trying to move him for a long time, but he’s overvalued at $18M. At 27 yrs old and after 6 seasons, he’s what the Wizards thought when they gave up on him 3 years ago: a nice rotation player, but not a starter. He’s worth $10M-$12M/yr.
Wiggins is legit 3-and-D wing, and worth his $26M/yr salary. He’s a big step up from Rui.
Rui is 27 and earns 17mil a season and put up 13-5-1.5 shooting 51-41-77
Wiggins is 30 and on 26 mil and put up 18-4.5-2.5 shooting 45-37-76
It’s also worth noting Wiggins gets 15 shot attempts per game to Ruis 10.
Rui is younger, he’s bigger, he’s stronger, he shoots the ball better, he rebounds better and he turns the ball over half as much.
How is Rui overvalued at 18 and yet Wiggins earns his 26, yet he arguably puts up better numbers.
The only reason I think the lakers make this deal and swap the two is Wiggins has shown an ability at times to step up in the playoffs and be a difference maker either on defence or on offence, although it doesn’t come with much consistency or for an extended amount of time.
Plus I think Miami would be smart to add the bigger body and back up guard
first, I respect the care you put into this post, and I apologize if I come across any other way.
The case for Wiggims rests more on defensive value that doesn’t show in the stats. He’s a world-class athlete that defends the other teams best offensive player every game. (That ability, along with his offense, is what makes him a former #1 pick, All-Star, 2nd beat player in Warriora Championship season, etc). That’s what makes him a legit starter on any contending team. Rui is not in that class, IMO:
You were not saying this about Wiggins after the Dubs acquired “Playoff Jimmy”, heck you were at the forefront with Davey J trashing him lmao.
Buyers remorse lol