Getty Rob Pelinka of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been apprehensive to pull off a trade this season but they may not have a choice. The team sits at 3-10, which is the third-worst record in the NBA. If those standings hold the rest of the year, the team would be squarely in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. The problem is that the New Orleans Pelicans can swap first-round picks with the Lakers next year due to the Anthony Davis trade.
If Los Angeles suffers through a miserable season just so a good Pelicans team can land a generational prospect, that would be an all-time bad look for the franchise. That’s why the Lakers need to make a trade to make the team better. Luckily, the patience the team has shown could end up paying off. The Washington Wizards are fifth in the Eastern Conference but still aren’t a great team. They’ve held off on rebuilding due to Bradley Beal’s commitment to the franchise but it might be time to reset. Beal’s under contract for at least four more years so trading him would entirely be up to Washington.
There is an executive who thinks the All-Star guard gets traded and that the Lakers are his landing spot, according to Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated.
“So here was the quote from the Western Conference executive I spoke to who had mentioned this,” Beck said on “The Crossover with Chris Mannix and Howard Beck” podcast. “He says, ‘Washington is the one that I keep thinking that’s going to happen. If you’re the Lakers, don’t you think you can get Bradley Beal? He’s got a no-trade clause. He wants to come to California.’”
How Lakers Can Land Beal
It’s very interesting that the executive noted that Beal wants to be in California. He was a free agent in the offseason but neither the Lakers or Clippers could have signed him without making a trade. Perhaps he saw that situation and decided it would be better to just stay in Washington.
However, Beal could look at the Wizards right now and accept that they aren’t going to contend anytime soon. Washington might also come to that conclusion and want to start tanking for Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson. Unfortunately for them, they don’t have a ton of leverage with Beal having a no-trade clause. If he wants to be in Los Angeles and isn’t willing to go anywhere else, there’s nothing the Wizards can do. At that point, the Lakers’ 2027 and 2029 first-round picks with an expiring Russell Westbrook contract might be appealing. That would give the team a ton of flexibility to rebuild the roster in the offseason.
The Lakers “are known to covet” Bradley Beal, per @ChrisBHaynes
Lakers Afraid They’ll Give Top Pick to Pelicans
With the reality setting in that the Lakers could end up with a top pick if the season doesn’t turn around, they could be more motivated to make a move. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the team is terrified that they could hand the Pelicans a top pick on a silver platter.
“There is already a palpable fear inside (what I still like to call) Staples Center that the Purple & Gold are careening toward a draft in June in which the New Orleans Pelicans are gleefully positioned to swap picks with L.A. as a condition of the Anthony Davis blockbuster deal in July 2019,” Stein wrote on his Substack.
The potential embarrassment of suffering a terrible season just to give New Orleans Wembanyama or Henderson should be enough motivation for the Lakers to make a move soon.