With the February 9 trade deadline just a month away, the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be active in searching for roster upgrades.
However, according to Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale, the Lakers will need to move quickly if they want to obtain Malik Beasley and Jared Vanderbilt from the Utah Jazz because the LA Clippers could be interested in beating Rob Pelinka to the punch.
“The Clippers can fork over a first-round pick in 2028 or 2029, have a slew of digestible middle-rung contracts and have criminally underutilize Terance Mann in a way that makes you think they consider him semi-expendable…Going after Malik Beasley (team option) and Jarred Vanderbilt…won’t come cheap. But if the Clippers are willing to part with a 2028 first, they can offer up to two swaps (2027 and 2029) on top of Mann and other salaries,” Favale wrote on January 9.
The Lakers’ interest in potentially landing Beasley was first documented by The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Jovan Buha back in September, “In recent conversations with the Jazz, the Lakers have targeted Bogdanović, Jordan Clarkson and Malik Beasley, according to league sources,” Amick and Buha wrote.
However, it would now appear that unless the Lakers dust off their 2027 and 2029 first-round draft picks and put them firmly on the negotiating table, Pelinka could miss out on adding the sharpshooters to the Lakers rotation and instead, see the lining up for one of their most fierce rivals in the Clippers.
Lakers Could Wait Until Free Agency
According to a Western Conference Executive who spoke with Heavy On Sports NBA Insider Sean Deveney, the Lakers could decide against making a trade at the deadline in order to give themselves maximum flexibility in the summer.
“That is the big hope there…They want to hold onto those picks, they want to get everybody healthy, they want to let all their bad contracts expire, they want to get someone in free agency that they can get LeBron excited about—unless they can make a miracle happen at the trade deadline and bring in a big name that way. If that does not happen, they will be in position in the summer to get Kyrie Irving or Draymond Green, or maybe both if they make the numbers work,” The executive told Deveney.
The downside in waiting until 2023 free agency is it would risk further alienating LeBron and put the franchise at risk of losing their aging superstar, should he decide to call it quits and request a trade. However, for the Lakers, waiting until some of the larger contracts on their payroll expire, and adding talent without giving up draft picks, makes perfect sense – even if it does mean potentially sacrificing the current season.
LeBron James Is Applying Pressure To Lakers Front Office
In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick, LeBron sent a thinly veiled message to the front office, a message that clearly displayed his frustrations with the team’s current plight and lack of movement on the trade front.
“Y’all know what the f— should be happening,” LeBron told Amick when asked about the team’s lack of trade negotiations throughout the opening months of the season.
More here on his waning patience, how his greatness is forcing this conversation, and why he deserves more help
Frustrated or not, there is no denying the LeBron is still playing at an elite level, and the opportunity to play alongside him should continue to be a considerable selling point. In 31 regular-season games this season, LeBron is averaging 29.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 51% from the field and 29.5% from beyond the perimeter.
Clippers Could Steal Sharpshooting Trade Target from Lakers: Analyst