There's a real chance that Andrew Wiggins becomes a hot commodity on the trade market this season. That doesn't mean the Miami Heat should just give him away, which they would be doing with this most recent trade proposal with the Los Angeles Lakers. This is a scenario that shouldn't sit right with Heat fans.
With the recent speculation and rumors that have sparked back up revolving around a potential trade of Wiggins, Bleacher Report outlined an interesting trade proposal between the Heat and Lakers that would leave much to be desired from one particular side.
The Andrew Wiggins to Lakers framework
Here is the entire proposal:
The key part of this deal is that the Lakers would get Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr. from the Heat, and Miami would get Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht from the Lakers. They'd also create a $10 million trade exception from this deal.
To be perfectly honest, if this is what the Heat gets in exchange for Wiggins, it'd be difficult to label it as a win. In a way, I do suppose Knecht can be viewed as a first-round pick (or talent), but it won't hit the same as an actual pick.
Plus, the idea that the Heat would have to include Jaquez Jr. and a second-round pick to get this done would give Miami's front office even less incentive to pull the trigger.
If the Lakers could work a way to land Wiggins without including a first-round pick, this would be a huge win for the team. The Heat, on the other hand, would, at best, look at this deal as a wash. And that should anger Heat fans.
Especially considering that the Heat is theoretically working their way to get in the running to land a superstar player in the not-so-distant future, it's pretty clear they need to start accumulating future first-round picks. The hope was that trading Wiggins could help deliver one.
I'm not sure if Knecht would hold the same type of value on the trade market as one. Because of that, the Heat would have to be in a very dark place to accept this deal. Of course, that could change depending on how Wiggins looks this season. The same could be said about Jaquez and Knecht.
That certainly matters. But with how things currently stand at the moment, this would be a pretty bad value trade for the Heat overall. If this is all the Heat can get back in a deal for Wiggins, they might as well just wait until next season to try to trade him as an expiring contract (assuming he opts in with his player option).
No matter what Lakers fans try to tell you, this is not a good return for Wiggins, a former All-Star player and one who seemingly still has a lot left in the tank. Heat fans should be up in arms if this is something that actually materializes.