With the 2023 NBA Draft closing in on June 22, trade rumors continue to heat up. It has been a relatively quiet trade season for the Los Angeles Lakers, but they are in a position to make a deal if the right one is presented.
There are superstar players who could potentially be available like Chris Paul or Kyrie Irving. If the Lakers prefer to build out the depth on the roster over adding a third superstar next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Detroit Pistons could be a team worth reaching out to.
In a Bleacher Report video titled “Should Pistons Trade for Malik Beasley?,” Ku Khahil pitched a deal that sends Beasley and the 17th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft for veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic. He’s quite confident this deal will actually happen.
“Out of all the trades I have on here, I think is the most likely one,” Khahil said. “I could really see both teams wanting to do this. … I’ll be honest, I would not be shocked if this trade happened on draft night.”
Bojan Bogdanovic Was Linked to Los Angeles Lakers Trade During Season
This is not the first time the Lakers have been linked to Bojan Bogdanovic. The team was heavily involved in trade rumors surrounding the forward during last season. According to a January 23 report from The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, Bogdanovic was the top name linked to Los Angeles prior to the trade deadline.
“Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic continues to be the name most often tied to the Lakers in league circles,” Buha wrote at the time.
The Lakers ended up deciding to do a three-team deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz that brought Malik Beasley, D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt to Los Angeles. While Russell and Vanderbilt were important pieces during the playoff run, Beasley fell out of the rotation. He didn’t play more than 15 minutes in a single playoff game and didn’t even see the court in four games. Bogdanovic has made 38.2% of his 3-point shots in the playoffs and has averaged 31.1 minutes played a game in 47 career playoff games.
Bojan Bogdanovic is phenomenal. Unguardable jab-step 3P pull-ups. KILLED Miami last night.
44.3 on C&S 3s, 47.6% corner 3s, 40.9% pull-ups 3s. 21.0 PPG on 1.54 points per shot—one of the most dominantly efficient volume scorers in the league.
Los Angeles Lakers Not Expected to Make Splashy Moves
The Lakers could decide to take a big swing this offseason and add another superstar, but they tried that in 2021 with the Russell Westbrook trade. That move didn’t work out as the team missed the playoffs in Westbrook’s first year and then was traded during his second season.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers plan to have a more subtle approach this offseason.
“There’s no big game hunting out there for this Laker organization,” Wojnarowski said on a June 16 episode of ESPN’s “Get Up.” “In this league right now, with a new collective bargaining agreement, you can’t really pay three max superstars and expect to have any depth on your roster. It’s going to look a lot the same, but think about a team next year that goes the entire season with [Rui] Hachimura, with [Austin] Reaves as your starter. They’ve got a chance to be very, very competitive in the West.”
It’s possible they would consider adding a player like Chris Paul, but it would have to come at a discount as the team is committed to building out its depth.
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Proposed Trade Lands Lakers Long-Rumored Target for Malik Beasley & Pick