The Los Angeles Lakers have a few choices this offseason — run it back, make minor but meaningful upgrades or swing for the fences.
Swinging for the fences would mean pulling off a major trade for a third star to put alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Many would say it would be very difficult to pull off, or that the team doesn’t really need a third star. But this is a Lakers franchise that has historically chased stars.
On Wednesday, news broke that star guard Bradley Beal might end up getting traded and that there could be mutual interest between himself and the Washington Wizards in doing so.
Just In: The Washington Wizards and Bradley Beal will work together to find a trade for the three-time All-Star if the team elects to reset the roster in the near future, league sources tell me and @JoshuaBRobbins.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 14, 2023
Naturally, some Lakers fans will say the team should go after him. Would that be the right thing to do?
The case for
James is 38 years of age, and he seems to be gradually growing increasingly brittle. After seldom missing games prior to coming to Los Angeles, he has appeared in an average of 55.6 games a season since 2018, and he has played in over 56 games only once during that span.
Davis is obviously injury-prone as well, and some believe he cannot be counted on to consistently play up to his potential. That feeling is obviously hyperbolic, but the risk of him missing several weeks each season due to injury isn’t.
Beal could pick up the slack in more than one area. He’s a proven scorer who averaged 23.2 points a game on a career-high 50.6% shooting this season. While he isn’t a great 3-point shooter, he is a solid one who owns a 37.2% career accuracy from downtown.
The shooting guard can also make plays for others. He has a career average of 4.3 assists a game, but he has put up at least 5.4 dimes a contest in four of the last five seasons.
This means Beal could take a lot of pressure off an aging James while keeping defenses occupied, which could also free up Davis inside for more easy baskets.
In addition, he could keep L.A. afloat if or when James and/or Davis are shelved with an injury.
The case against
There aren’t really any major downsides to acquiring Beal from a pure basketball standpoint. However, from a business perspective, it would be very risky.
As would be the case with a trade for Kyrie Irving or Chris Paul, the two big names rumored to be interested in coming to L.A., the team would have to jettison most of its supporting talent. That would leave it with an extremely top-heavy roster, and it would have to rely on over-the-hill players on minimum contracts to fill out its roster, just as it did during the 2021-22 campaign.
Beal will make just over $43 million next season. That means the Lakers would have to give up a lot, and Sam Quinn of CBS Sports outlined the harsh parameters that would entail.
Via CBS Sports:
“Assuming LeBron James and Anthony Davis are off the table, the Lakers literally only have around $39.3 million in tradable salary. That would mean sending out the five other salaried players on their roster (Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba, Jarred Vanderbilt, Max Christie and Shaq Harrison) along with the No. 17 pick. For the Lakers to reach that $42.5 million threshold, they’d have to sign-and-trade one of their own free agents. Obviously Rui Hachimura is not going back to Washington, and Austin Reaves is untouchable. That essentially means that the Lakers would have to find a way to work a D’Angelo Russell sign-and-trade into this thing. That’s unlikely for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is the consent it would require from Russell.”
In addition, the Lakers need at least one true 3-and-D wing, as well as adequate center depth behind (or alongside) Davis. Trading for Beal would mean using up most or all of their trade assets, leaving them bereft of chips that could be used to address those two needs.
