Los Angeles Lakers: Trading for Bradley Beal is the best-case scenario
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers have reported interest in Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal, who would be perfect for the Lakers.
The rumors and speculation around the Los Angeles Lakers are only going to continue to grow as the offseason gets closer and the team gets closer to adding a second star alongside LeBron James.
That has been the front office’s ultimate goal the last few years and the team will likely stop at nothing to get that second star, even if it is not a perfect fit. With how much of a circus the organization has been the last year, the front office has to save face and get a star.
That could lead to some potentially bad fits that end up not working out in the long run. One of those bad fits would be trading for Toronto point guard, Kyle Lowry, a player that the team is potentially interested in this summer.
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The other player that the report states the Lakers have interest in is none other than Washington Wizards shooting guard, Bradley Beal. And unlike Lowry, trading for Bradley Beal would be the best-case scenario for the Lakers and is a move the team should make every day of the week.
To be fair, Beal is not the absolute best-case scenario. Obviously, signing Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard without having to give up the young core would be a better move. However, those signings seem unlikely and are the only moves that would beat out a Beal trade.
Which means that a Beal trade would be better than an Anthony Davis trade. Trading for AD is going to entail shipping off the entire young core when the team can try and be patient, wait another year and sign Davis as a free agent.
Anyways, the price tag on Beal is not going to be absurd and he fits into this team perfectly. The Wizards should be rather desperate to change the culture of the team and with John Wall practically unmovable with his massive contract, that means trading Beal and trying to start over around Wall.
The Lakers can easily land Beal for a package consisting of the fourth overall pick, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart. The team still has to send one of the young core three players and another young player in Hart.
That is still better than including Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball, if not both, in the trade as well. It keeps the depth of the team intact and leaves enough salary cap space to bring in other outside assets as well.
After crunching some numbers on Spotrac, the Los Angeles Lakers would still have just under $24 million in practical cap space to bring in other free agents this summer. While the same could be said if the team trades for AD, the team would also need to replace Kuzma and Ball.
In this situation, the Lakers can run a starting five consisting of Lonzo Ball, Bradley Beal, LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma. The remaining $24 million can be used to find a starting center, a backup point guard, a three and D specialist off the bench and probably a cheaper, veteran center, such as JaVale McGee.
Next. Not trading the pick would be a failure. dark
Just adding one star to the roster is not going to instantly make the Los Angeles Lakers title contenders. The team still has to have a solid foundation around the two stars and trading for Bradley Beal allows just that.