The Los Angeles Lakers had an active summer, making moves on the buyout to acquire big names like Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart. So what is next?

Los Angeles was aggressive in the offseason to sign players like Ayton and Smart and made another savvy move to sign Jake LaRavia. But their current roster is probably not complete enough to compete with the top teams in the Western Conference, specifically the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Perhaps the roster they have now is what they will have on Opening Night. But as the season continues before the trade deadline, they could shake up the snowglobe a bit.

According to Marc Stein, one potential option is a former No. 1 overall pick who was named an All-Star and won an NBA championship in 2022 (via The Stein Line):

“The sort of player who is likely to interest the Lakers?

My read (if Miami were to make him available): Andrew Wiggins.

Wiggins, 30, will earn $28.2 million this season and holds a $30.2 million player option for 2026-27. I wouldn’t have classified him as a potential purple-and-gold target before Dončić’s long-term future was secured, but things are different now. So my sense is that the Lakers would have interest if the Heat, in coming weeks or months, decide to prioritize financial flexibility and look to reduce payroll.”

How, though, could the Lakers put together an enticing enough package to lure Wiggins from Miami?

How much do the Lakers need to give for Wiggins?

Based on the CBA, the outgoing salary needs to match the incoming salary for a trade to work within the salary cap.

The Heat, however, created a sizable trade exception when they traded Jimmy Butler for Wiggins last season. They already used $8.3 million from that pot to acquire Simone Fontecchio from the Detroit Pistons as part of a sign-and-trade deal for Duncan Robinson. There is

That created a new trade exception worth $16.8 million, per CapSheets.com. Miami also has additional trade exceptions, including one worth $5.6 million they recently created when they traded Haywood Highsmith to the Brooklyn Nets.

So the Heat would not need to take back exactly the amount Wiggins makes (which is $28.2 million) from the Lakers and there is a little bit of wiggle room.

Who would the Heat want from the Lakers for Hachimura?

There are no one-to-one fits that would work for Wiggins in a trade between the Lakers and the Heat.

But one centered around Rui Hachimura is probably the closest that Los Angeles can get to satisfy what Miami would need within the salary cap.

One of the reasons Hachimura might attract the Heat is because his contract expires and comes off the books at the end of the 2025-26 campaign while Wiggins has a player option worth $30.2 million he could opt into for next season.

Should the Lakers offer Hachimura, who is paid $18.2 million, they could get a deal done so long as they pair him with one more of their players on a “medium” sized contract.

That means that adding on expiring contract of Gabe Vincent (who has previously played for the Heat) or Maxi Kleber to Hachimura would all work to trade for Wiggins.

All of them could come off the books before the 2026 offseason and so Miami would not have to worry about whether or not Wiggins is going to opt into his deal worth $30.2 million, instead giving them cap space to maneuver flexibly in the trade or free agency market.

If the Lakers attached Jarred Vanderbilt, the deal would also work, but Vanderbilt is still under contract for 2026-27 and has a player option for 2027-28.

Could the Lakers trade for Wiggins without Hachimura?

It is possible but it would get very complicated very quickly.

Stacking two of the aforementioned Vincent, and Kleber would not work within the CBA as the Lakers would take back $5.6 million more than the allowable amount. They could stack all these two with Vanderbilt, but Miami may not want his long-term money.

Perhaps the Heat are intrigued by Knecht and want to give him a shot. Of course, the Lakers may look to trade Knecht after a deal that involved him awkwardly fell apart last season.

If the Heat do in fact want Knecht, the Lakers can keep Hachmiura out of the deal by offering two of the players mentioned above (Vanderbilt, Vincent, or Kleber) and the former first-round pick. This would work by using two of Miami’s trade exceptions discussed earlier.

Should the Heat make any more signings in free agency after training camp, by adding three players and sending out just one in return, they would then have to cut one or more of those players to make room for these expiring contracts.

How likely a trade between the Lakers and Heat?

As of right now, this is something for fans to just file away as something intriguing to think about for the future.

After adding one former No. 1 overall pick in Ayton earlier this season, adding the talented Wiggins would make for plenty of headlines and excitement.

But for now, we should probably expect to see Wiggins begin his season in Florida. But perhaps some time around the trade deadline, folks can check back in for a temperature check.