With an immense amount of trade speculation surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers, there could be some conversation among the fan base about a few Miami Heat stars.
As the Lakers are looking to add a center to the team alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James, one player mentioned by team reporter for The Athletic’s Jovan Buha was Bam Adebayo along with the mention of Andrew Wiggins.
Buha said he likes the idea of Adebayo joining Los Angeles as he would be a “clear upgrade” where he fits perfectly on defense, and while the offensive side isn’t the archetype the team could be looking for, he would be a highly valuable add.
However, Buha pointed out on his YouTube channel that a deal wouldn’t likely make sense for Miami since they would probably get back Austin Reaves, who shares similarities with All-Star Tyler Herro.
“I think the bigger thing is to your question, I don’t see the asset offer there for the Lakers,” Buha said. “Like, if you put yourself in Miami shoes, and I made this point recently on a mailbag, like, why would they trade for Austin Reeves when they have Tyler Herro?
“And there are some similarities there. There are some differences there, but in general, they are similar types of players, and Austin’s two years older than Tyler Hero, and he’s only one year younger than Bam Adebayo.”
Lakers could use Andrew Wiggins at the wing
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With Reaves’ name being mentioned as a trade piece for the Lakers, Buha also mentioned that a wing is a need for the team, which Wiggins fits the bill. This past season, he played the latter half of the year with the Heat after the Golden State Warriors traded him as part of the Jimmy Butler deal.
While Buha mentions that Wiggins would be someone who “would make sense,” he doesn’t have that much intel on him specifically, though he comes up with a possible trade idea.
“I think Wiggins, if the Lakers are looking to address the wing need on the trade market, Wiggins is a guy that I like a lot, and you can get there probably with some base of Rui plus matching salary.
“Like, for me, any trade where the Lakers can add a rotation player and not give up one of their top six, I would say, like the line for me starts at Gabe, where I’d be willing to give him up for an upgrade. So I have not heard specifically Wiggins, but he is the type of target that would make sense for them.”
At any rate, Los Angeles looks to improve after finishing 50-32, which put them third in the West, but they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
