![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2198806621-e1751561005185.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Andrew Wiggins of the Miami Heat controls the ball against Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> have intensified their pursuit of Miami Heat<\/a> star Andrew Wiggins<\/a> as training camp approaches, according to Forbes\u2019 Evan Sidery.<\/p>\n \u201cLos Angeles is very open to moving former first-round pick Dalton Knecht<\/a> alongside the necessary expiring salary. Miami wants a future first-round pick attached in the package,\u201d Sidery wrote on X<\/a> Saturday.<\/p>\n The renewed discussions follow NBA insider Marc Stein\u2019s report identifying Wiggins as a target for the Lakers<\/a> after Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a> committed to a long-term deal with the team.<\/p>\n \u201cLeague sources say L.A. would indeed have interest in adding a two-way swingman who can raise their ceiling,\u201d Stein wrote<\/a>\u00a0in his\u00a0The Stein Line\u00a0newsletter on Sept. 8. \u201cThe sort of player who is likely to interest the Lakers<\/a>? My read (if Miami were to make him available): Andrew Wiggins<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Previous Talks Stalled Over High Price<\/p>\n Earlier in the offseason, exploratory talks on a Wiggins-for-Rui Hachimura<\/a> swap broke down, Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints reported.<\/p>\n \u201cOne story, and the one that I heard more directly, was that the\u00a0Miami Heat<\/a>\u00a0were asking for\u00a0Rui Hachimura<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0Irwin said<\/a>\u00a0on the Sept. 8 episode of his podcast\u00a0The Lakers<\/a> Lounge. \u201cThey were asking for a first-round pick,\u00a0Gabe Vincent<\/a>, and potentially\u00a0Dalton Knecht<\/a>. The Lakers<\/a> would probably be fine moving off Dalton or Vincent for Wiggins, and maybe even Rui, but they definitely did not want to include Rui and the first-round pick together. That\u2019s where the talks broke down.\u201d<\/p>\n Draft Capital Limits Lakers Flexibility<\/p>\n Currently, the Lakers<\/a> hold limited draft assets: one tradable first-round pick (2031 or 2032) and a 2032 second-round pick. Another first-rounder will become available next offseason, potentially increasing flexibility.<\/p>\n Irwin stressed that the Lakers\u2019 best-case scenario would be acquiring Wiggins without giving up Hachimura or their first-round pick.<\/p>\n \u201cIdeally, the Lakers<\/a> find a way to move\u00a0Maxi Kleber<\/a>\u2019s contract, Gabe Vincent\u2019s contract and Dalton Knecht\u2019s contract, maybe with another minimum-type deal,\u201d Irwin said. \u201cFrom a basketball standpoint, that\u2019s the best outcome. You don\u2019t want to trade away your sixth-best player when you\u2019re on the outside looking in at the true contenders.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiggins Could Elevate Lakers to Elite Tier<\/p>\n A two-way wing like Wiggins would complement the Lakers\u2019 core of LeBron James<\/a>, Don\u010di\u0107,\u00a0Austin Reaves<\/a>,\u00a0Marcus Smart<\/a>, and Hachimura. Jovan Buha said the move could immediately elevate Los Angeles into the Western Conference\u2019s elite tier.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Lakers<\/a>, with the right move, can vault themselves up to the Tier 1 [of NBA title teams] and have a legit chance to win a championship,\u201d Buha said<\/a> on the Sept. 9 episode of his podcast. \u201cIf the Lakers were to get Andrew Wiggins<\/a>, or a player of that ilk \u2014 a two-way wing who can guard multiple positions, including backcourt players and wings, and take that burden off LeBron, Luka, Austin, and Rui \u2014 that\u2019s the ideal complement to Marcus Smart<\/a> and Rui Hachimura<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Buha echoed Irwin\u2019s assessment that acquiring Wiggins while retaining Hachimura would strengthen both the Lakers\u2019 first and second units.<\/p>\n Will the renewed talks finally result in a blockbuster trade to boost the Lakers\u2019 title hopes?<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAlder Almo<\/a> is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 20 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Andrew Wiggins of the Miami Heat controls the ball against Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-194267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}