The Miami Heat have not been overly active through the first week-plus of the NBA offseason, but dominoes could finally be falling in their favor. In fact, I'd suggest that after the signing of Deandre Ayton, the Heat now has a clear path toward trading Andrew Wiggins to the Los Angeles Lakers, who have been linked to him since the 2025 NBA Draft.
Los Angeles was largely expected to trade for a starting center at some point this offseason. But now that they managed to get Ayton for free on the free-agent market, they have assets available to make another significant move. With a need on the wing, and specifically for a two-way impactful player, Wiggins is a name who naturally could fit on the team.
Heading into the NBA Draft, the Lakers were linked to Wiggins. Though nothing materialized between the two sides, it was certainly a sign that the two could revisit talks in the future. That time may have arrived, as things may be perfectly aligned for the Lakers and Heat to make a deal.
Will the Lakers meet the Heat's asking price?
It's difficult to take everything that has been reported at face value, but if the recent reporting is accurate, Miami may have a high asking price for Wiggins. It's been speculated that the Heat may be asking the Lakers for Dalton Knecht and a first-round pick. The Lakers would probably have to throw in Rui Hachimura to make the money work, too.
That may be too much for the Lakers. I'd imagine if that's what has been discussed as a realistic trade, the deal wouldn't have been done already. However, it's not, and I have a hard time believing that the Lakers would want to give up that much for Wiggins, especially amid the other "noise" that they're trying to work through on the LeBron James front.
From the Heat's perspective, I'd have to imagine that they'd love to part ways with Wiggins (even though they will never publicly admit it). However, especially knowing how this team likes to operate, there's no way the Heat are going to trade Wiggins for pennies on the dollar. If their recent history is any indication, they're going to need the Lakers to meet them at their demand, or at least get awfully close to it.
All that said, I still believe that if the Heat are going to pull off a trade for Wiggins, the Lakers seem like the most realistic landing spot. And the signing of Ayton made it that much more likely.