The Los Angeles Lakers are in desperate need of a roster rehaul. As presently constructed, the team is old and injury-prone.
Last year, after coming into the season with championship aspirations, L.A. couldn’t even stay healthy enough to qualify for the playoffs.
That has led to a lot of chatter up to this point regarding Russell Westbrook’s future with the organization and LeBron James’ role in that decision.
This week, an interesting new star player became connected to the Lakers: Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, Beal is a name to keep an eye on going forward.
“The one name that I’ve heard recently is Bradley Beal as another guy that they want,” O’Connor said on “The Void” podcast recently.
“I’m not sure if the interest is as mutual. 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 Jason Tatum, but the Lakers are trying to angle for some moves like that using the Russ expiring [contract] and the ’27 and the ’29 firsts [first-round draft picks].”
Obviously the fact that the Lakers are even being linked to Beal right now is incredible. The front office has been so disastrous in acquiring talent up to this point that you would almost assume that actually getting someone good wasn’t even an option anymore.
And he is obviously way better than the three players that Los Angeles had been rumored to be targeting.
That said, Beal does have a player option he needs to exercise. And if it turns out that he decides he is over trying to make his current squad into something, then a sign-and-trade would certainly make sense for the Wizards. At least more sense than letting Beal walk for nothing.
Up to this point one team has expressed immense interest in adding Beal. But it’s unclear how mutual that interest is on Washington’s part.
Ayesha’s provocative response to Steph’s big win. https://t.co/OIalzKRiOV
— Game 7 (@game7__) June 17, 2022
Either way, this is shaping up to be an interesting offseason. If the Lakers can truly acquire Beal, it’d be a trade on par with them nabbing Pau Gasol in ’08.
Can L.A. shock the world and pull another superstar this summer?
Time will tell.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
