Luka Doncic was the best player at EuroBasket: 34.7 points a game (first in the tournament), 8.6 rebounds (eighth) and 7.1 assists (tied for second). He may not win MVP because Slovenia was eliminated in the round of eight, but that was as far as he could carry this roster. Coming off a summer focused on conditioning — which went viral — Doncic looked dominant.
Doncic’s play and the fact that he signed a contract extension with them have the Lakers — who previously had focused on having cap space and flexibility next summer — considering a more aggressive approach, reports Dan Woike at The Athletic. He specifically named Miami’s Andrew Wiggins.
According to team and league sources, the Lakers’ stance on roster improvements heading into this season has shifted because of the start of this new chapter together…
One area the team is focused on is upgrading the wing, where it needs more two-way talent. A player like Miami’s Andrew Wiggins, whom the Lakers weren’t interested in earlier this summer, is now a more desirable player, provided the price is right.
Wiggins, who played 60 games last season between Golden State and Miami, averaged 18 points and 4.5 rebounds a game while shooting 37.4% from 3. He’s a solid wing player who still can show flashes of why he was drafted No. 1 overall (like his play during the Warriors’ 2022 championship run, the season he was named an All-Star). Even with his play last season, Wiggins would be an upgrade over someone like Rui Hachimura for Los Angeles. Wiggins will make $28.2 million this season and has a player option for $30.2 million next season.
The buzz out of Miami has been that the Heat want to see how the team looks to start the season before making any moves. If the Heat struggle out of the gate, they would have a financial incentive to shed salary (they are currently are flirting with the tax line). Both the Heat and Lakers are hard-capped at the first apron, and the Lakers are just $1.1 million below that line, so any trade that sees the Heat shed salary and the Lakers take on Wiggins will have to involve a third team, likely Brooklyn (it has cap space). That’s a lot that has to come together.
This illustrates the challenge of the Lakers getting more aggressive during the season — they have very limited financial flexibility. Making in-season deals will be challenging, the Lakers can’t even take on a veteran minimum contract until mid-January. The Lakers will also want to assess their current roster with a motivated Doncic plus LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and newcomers such as Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart.
It’s more likely the Lakers can make bold moves next summer, when LeBron becomes a free agent and his $52 million comes off the books (even if the plan is to re-sign James, they will have flexibility). Still, it sounds like the Lakers aren’t going to treat this coming season as a gap year, especially if they can find the right trade.
