Thanks to another aggressive move from the Houston Rockets, the Miami Heat may have been gifted the perfect trade partner for Andrew Wiggins. After the Rockets signed Dorian Finney-Smith away from Los Angeles to open free agency, there’s a reason to believe that the Lakers may need to explore a trade for Wiggins
The Lakers and Heat were reportedly discussing a potential Wiggins trade before the 2025 NBA Draft. Since then, though, those whispers have certainly quieted down. It remains to be seen how deep those conversations went, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Los Angeles was doing their homework ahead of time for this very situation.
Losing Finney-Smith will certainly hurt the Lakers’ wing depth, and there may not be any easy fixes already on the roster for the team. That’s why a trade of Wiggins could make a ton of sense for Los Angeles. With just two years left on his contract, Wiggins wouldn’t be considered that much of a financial burden for Los Angeles. Plus, he’s still playing at a high level at this point in his career.
Wiggins still has much left in the tank
He may not have had the best finishes to the season with the Heat, in which he struggled mightily in the postseason, but perhaps a new role and scenario could help Wiggins bounce back.
Playing next to LeBron James and Luka Doncic would also help simplify the game for Wiggins further, more so to the extent that he excelled during his time with the Golden State Warriors.
The prevailing thought is that the Heat wants to create as much financial flexibility as they can heading into next summer; trading Wiggins has to be considered a big part of those plans. With a $30 million player option for the 2026-27 NBA season, that would free up significant money for the Heat if they can trade him (assuming the Heat can get primarily expiring contracts in return).
I’m sure the Lakers will explore plenty of options even as free agency opens, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if they revisited their previous trade talks with the Heat regarding Wiggins.
