The clock is ticking until the 3:00 p.m. EST trade deadline on Thursday, Feb. 5. Weeks after the Atlanta Hawks traded Trae Young to the Washington Wizards — the first-and-only trade made up until this weekend — the Cleveland Cavaliers dealt De’Andre Hunter in a three-team, four-player package.
While the Miami Heat weren’t directly involved, this could affect them. Let’s explain!
How the De’Andre Hunter-Kings trade affects the Miami Heat:
On Saturday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers traded De’Andre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis. The Kings also sent Dario Saric plus a second-round pick to the Chicago Bulls, while the Bulls also received another second from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
How this could potentially affect the Miami Heat is Andrew Wiggins’ market — particularly two notable suitors for the veteran wing.
Acquired last year in the Jimmy Butler trade, Wiggins, 30, is in the penultimate year of his current contract. He is on the books for $28.2 million this year with a $30.2 million player option next summer. One of the teams that has been reportedly interested since the offseason is the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, with the Lakers searching for a 3-and-D wing to complement Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, two of their most known targets — Ellis and Hunter — were lumped in this trade. Ellis, who’s been a fringe rotation player for the Kings for most of the season, was attached to get off of Schroder’s contract. Hunter, on the other hand, gives Sacramento some additional wing depth outside of Keegan Murray.
Time will tell how well this deal shapes out for every side involved. But does this mean the Lakers — or any other team searching for a 3-and-D wing, a premium in today’s NBA — will attempt to pry Wiggins away from Miami?
According to The Athletic’s Dan Woike, the Lakers did not want to “take on money beyond this year” regarding Hunter, which could mean temper Wiggins’ immediate market. The Heat wing is the much better player. Wiggins is averaging 15.7 points on 46.9/38.6/78.6 shooting splits. Furthermore, he’s been one of the Heat’s most impactful offensive rebounders and wing defenders.
The Heat were reportedly trying to extract a first-round pick from the Lakers during the summer. At this juncture, that should remain the asking price.
If Los Angeles can successfully maneuver their 2032 first for three worse first-round picks, a deal for Wiggins could look more realistic, depending on how the Heat brass feel about those picks as it pertains to 1.) Wiggins’ value itself and 2.) How much more realistic a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade becomes with one of those FRPs.
There’s a world where another team not previously seeking a 3-and-D wing enters the conversation as the deadline nears. Golden State and Milwaukee have been thrown out. Though the latter also has an Antetokounmpo-sized problem to solve, and the former reportedly hasn’t engaged amid the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes.
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I’m hoping it will effect the Heat because the Alert will ding on Pat Riley’s cell phone and wake him up
Interesting. I didn’t think about the impact those 2 players coming off the market might have for the team.