The Los Angeles Lakers have been connected to Wizards All-Star Bradley Beal since 2018, when it was reported that they would have a hard time agreeing to trade Brandon Ingram for him. After the season ended, rumors emerged that Beal would be a reserve target if the team failed to win over Anthony Davis, and before the NBA bubble last season, there were rumors that the Lakers were interested in a trade deal for Beal.
We all know what happened next. The Lakers proved that they didn’t need a Big Three to win a title, and that LeBron James and Anthony Davis plus an excellent supporting cast were good enough. They then left and closed the game this offseason while updating their squad, making negotiations difficult during the season.
Still, we point it all out because there are headlines linking Beal to the Lakers again, so even if a deal is difficult and highly unlikely, it is worth noting their previous interest. Because if general manager Rob Pelinka showed something of his time on this job last year, it is that he is good at having contingency plans, so we can never totally exclude the Lakers from anything.
The most recent buzz comes from a somewhat improvised remark by Adrian Wojnarowski as he discussed Beal’s situation in ESPN’s “The Jump”, but given that Woj is as connected as he can be, his certainty here is still noteworthy (emphasis mine ):
“There is no team in the league that would not love to find a way to add Bradley Beal … I think for teams like Golden State or Denvers, teams that have assets that are contenders when they are healthy, but also, say if you are Golden State, you have the choice of the Minnesota draft, if you are Denver, you have a great young player in Michael Porter Jr., you have an All-Star in Jamal Murray on the backcourt. Now, I’m not saying that they are going to do this, but you look at these teams and say ‘they have enough to get into the conversation’.
“And that is going to be the decision for teams across the league. Of course, the Lakers and Clippers would love to get involved, but do they have draft options? Do they have the young players needed to lead a pack of other teams? Maybe not.
“And then you will see a frenzy if and when Bradley Beal enters the market, and he will have a say on where he is going because of this contract situation. Unless a team is just willing to just make a switch and hope to convince you to stay for a long term and have you under contract next season, but this is too risky for someone, you may be giving up a lot of choices in the first round and probably your best young player (for). I think all of these are considerations for the teams, but man, I don’t think there will be many who won’t make a call and sit down and think ‘can we call Bradley Beal if he’s available?’ “
You can watch the entire exchange starting around the 3:30 mark below:
As real and serious as you think the Lakers’ interest sounded based on that – it seems to me that Woj was just recognizing the fact that all the teams would like to switch to Beal, who is very good at basketball – I think everyone we can agree that it certainly doesn’t look like something is imminent. Beal hasn’t even asked to leave yet and is under contract until 2022, with a $ 36 million player option for the 2022-23 season.
Still, considering how desperate the Wizards situation is and how the NBA works, it would be a real shock if Beal didn’t ask to be treated at some point (and it would be hard to blame him, to be honest. Even our Wizards website brother, Bullets Forever, got it).
If he does, do the Lakers have the resources to enter the race? It is hard to believe that they could outdo other teams, unless Beal pulls out an AD and amazes other suitors for wanting to just go to Los Angeles.
Even so, because of the strict limit, it is almost impossible to make a business work under the collective bargaining agreement. I spent about 10 minutes testing the ESPN trading machine, and although Pelinka and the Lakers have better planning than that, it clearly wouldn’t be easy.
After the season, it would potentially be easier, but still difficult because of how many choices in the first round the Lakers still tied in Davis’s trade.
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Image via Real GM
So basically, just as fun as trolling other NBA fans about Beal being a #FutureLaker – and it’s fun – it would also be very difficult to make that happen. Which is good, because the Lakers are the title favorites. Not a lot of teams that would be trying to get into Beal’s seemingly inevitable draw can say the same.
For more Lakers speak, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed at iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.