As the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed their two offseason acquisitions, Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia, their chance to add three-time All-Star guard Bradley Beal took a massive hit.
According to The Athletic, their crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, “are likely the leaders to sign” Beal if he secures a contract buyout with the Phoenix Suns.
The Clippers can offer Beal up to $5.3 million in salary for the 2025-26 season. Additionally, the Clippers have an opening in their starting unit after trading Norman Powell to the Miami Heat in a three-team deal that brought back forward John Collins.
The Lakers have a limited spending power left after they hard-capped themselves at the first apron after using their $15.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception on LaRavia and Ayton.
The Lakers still have the $5.1 million bi-annual exception, but bringing back Jaxson Hayes on a one-year deal worth $3.4 million that is above the veteran minimum crippled their ability to access it. They can open up $3.9 million of their bi-annual exception if they waive reserve guard Shake Milton‘s non-guaranteed $3 million salary.
However, even if they do that, it will pale in comparison to what the Clippers have opened up in their cap room with their smart spending this offseason. Plus, the Lakers are set with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in their backcourt, leaving only a bench role to offer Beal.
The Athletic added that Beal has also considered the Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks, citing league sources.
If Beal joins the Clippers, he will be part of a formidable starting unit that already has James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Collins and Ivica Zubac.
Deandre Ayton Excited to Play With Luka & LeBron
Getty Deandre Ayton is a buyout candidate to fill the Los Angeles Lakers’ desperate need for a starting center.
Just like how Doncic fell on the Lakers’ lap, Ayton also landed in the glamour franchise in a similar fashion.
The Lakers got their starting center without giving up their remaining draft capital (2031 or 2032 first-round pick) or any of their core players, as Ayton signed after asking for a buyout from the Portland Trail Blazers.
The former No. 1 pick is looking forward to feasting on lobs from both Doncic and LeBron James with the Lakers.
“They both average about nine assists over their career span,” Ayton said of Doncic and James. “The type of players they create with their teammates, they turn them into superstars. They make them bigger than their roles and make them very important on the floor as well. Just seeing that and finally getting the chance to go in and experience that would be big for me, and it’ll just get me back to my full form, how I used to play.”
The Lakers hope Ayton will provide the interior presence which they lacked in the playoffs and led to coach JJ Redick playing small ball.
Ayton averaged 14.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks while shooting 56.6% last season in Portland.
Lakers Star Yet to Reach Out to Deandre Ayton
Ayton and Doncic have already linked since the 7-foot center signed with the Lakers. After all, they share the same agent in Bill Duffy, WMA Sports’ head of their basketball division.
But the Lakers’ other star, James, has yet to reach out to the new Lakers center amid uncertainty surrounding his future with the franchise.
“Not really yet,” Ayton told ESPN. “But I definitely got a text from Luka. I know how the offseason goes — this isn’t my first rodeo. People are probably busy training and spending time with their families.”
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps, teams are lurking after James sent a veiled threat to the Lakers when he picked up his $52.6 million player option.
“There were a few inquiries from eyebrow-raised teams, sources said, just to gauge whether this was something or nothing. For now, there is no action. But it is surely being monitored,” Windhorst and Bontemps wrote.
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