As they look to build out their perimeter defense and scoring, the Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to Miami Heat small forward Andrew Wiggins of late.
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But what would it cost to trade for the the one-time All-Star and 2022 champion?
Jovan Buha of “Buha’s Block” doubts that Los Angeles will be able to successfully deal away Wiggins without leveraging some of its limited future draft equity.
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Specifically, Buha thinks Los Angeles would need to offload at least one future first-round draft pick.
Buha also wonders what kind of player assets the Lakers would be willing to ditch to acquire Wiggins, and suggests that the Heat would likely be fairly uninterested in bringing back a group headlined by at least two of forward Rui Hachimura, guard Gabe Vincent (who enjoyed his best NBA years with Miami, including a 2023 Finals run) and L.A. first-round draft pick wing Dalton Knecht.
Wiggins, 30, was the prized trade return Miami managed to net in its blockbuster deal to offload bitter All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors in a multi-team midseason deal last year.
Injuries limited him to just 17 healthy regular season bouts with the Heat. He averaged 19.0 points on a respectable .458/.360/.731 shooting line, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks. In the playoffs, with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ swarming perimeter defense keyed in on him, Wiggins saw his output collapse to just 11.5 points on a .372/.350/.700 slash line, 3.3 boards, 2.3 dimes and 1.3 rejections.
The 6-foot-7 Kansas product enjoyed probably his best, most meaningful season during a charmed run to a title with the 53-29 Warriors in 2021-22. He emerged as Golden State’s top two-way player, on a team with future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Wiggins averaged 17.2 points on .466/.393/.634 shooting splits, 4.5 boards, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.7 blocks in 73 healthy bouts while making his first and only All-Star squad.
He played sparingly in 2022-23 and fell off considerably in 2023-24 while tending to his father’s health, but reasserted himself as at least a useful contributor — albeit on what looked like a lottery Warriors team — in 2024-25. Wiggins helped shore up the Heat’s defense on the wing when he arrived, but his spotty playoff offense could give hurt his trade value.
Still, he’d be a huge help to L.A., a team currently starting an obvious power forward, Hachimura, at its small forward spot.