Most likely candidates to be Lakers’ secret Russell Westbrook trade target

3. Bradley Beal

The Washington Wizards, on the other hand, could be a team that looks to blow things up at the trade deadline. Washington is a middling team in the East and even at the team’s absolute best a play-in berth seems like the most likely outcome.

The worst place for an NBA team to be is stuck in between and without really having any means of improving in the future, the Wizards could make the Jazz-like move to blow it up at some point and trade away their star players.

As talented as Bradley Beal is, it is probably better for the long-term prospects of the franchise to trade him and get a good return for him while also getting off his contract. Washington is not going anywhere with Beal being the best player on the team and he is being paid like he is the best player on a championship team.

If Beal were to hit the market there would be several teams that would have better offers than the Lakers. The New York Knicks are the most likely destination for Beal in a potential trade as the Knicks have a boatload of draft capital and young talent to send to Washington.

3 non-Russell Westbrook trades to beef up the Lakers roster

The Los Angeles Lakers need to improve the roster before it is too late and could potentially do so with these 3 non-Russell Westbrook trades.

But that fact is obviously not stopping the Lakers from dreaming of a star talent and that star talent might be Beal. After all, on paper, he is the perfect player to add alongside Anthony Davis and LeBron James.