Getty Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal.
The NBA season is upon the Los Angeles Lakers and there are still major concerns surrounding the roster. Despite their best efforts, the team was not able to trade Russell Westbrook and he’ll be on the roster to start the season. That could eventually change but they’re going to have to work with him for now.
With the season just starting up, there aren’t many obvious trade candidates that the team could target. However, one analyst believes the Lakers could still swing a blockbuster trade. Sam Quinn of CBS predicted that Los Angeles will pull off a trade for Bradley Beal.
Beal has been connected to the Lakers for years as LeBron James is a big fan of his. He’d be a perfect fit on this roster due to his shooting ability. He just signed a five-year contract extension with the Washington Wizards this offseason so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for him to get traded so soon. Things would need to turn sour in Washington very quickly for them to consider a trade. Beal has made it clear that he won’t be the one to request a trade but the Wizards may just want to start over and rebuild after not getting past the first round of the playoffs in any of the past five seasons.
If Washington gets off to a bad start and it’s clear that they have no shot at contending for the playoffs, it may be time to consider trading Beal.
Lakers Previously Attempted to Trade for Beal in Offseason
The Lakers have previously targeted Beal many times. He’d be a strong fit with Anthony Davis and LeBron. Last year’s trade for Westbrook really hurt the team’s chances of making a trade for a star player but that didn’t stop them from trying. According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the Lakers did explore a trade for Beal this offseason.
“The one name that I’ve heard recently is Bradley Beal as another guy that they want. I’m not sure if the interest is as mutual,” O’Connor said in June on “The Void” podcast. “You know Beal, it seems like Miami would be more of the threat to take him away from Washington. I don’t think you can also rule out Boston either because of his relationship with Jayson Tatum, but the Lakers are trying to angle for some moves like that using the Russ expiring and the ’27 and the ’29 firsts.”
Do Lakers Have Enough to Land Beal in Trade?
To make the salaries work, Westbrook would have to be involved in a trade for Beal. There’s no reason to believe that the former MVP has any bad blood with his former team. The Lakers would certainly have to include their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, which they’d likely be willing to do for a player of Beal’s caliber.
Los Angeles also needs to hope that some of their young players look great to start the season. Right now, the Lakers don’t have enough to put an appealing package together for Washington. If Austin Reaves, Max Christie and/or Kendrick Nunn look great, then Los Angeles has some assets that could appeal to a rebuilding team. If Beal is available, the Lakers won’t have an easy time making a deal happen but they should certainly at least try. Adding the guard to this roster could get them back into title contention.