Lakers fans will absolutely love the latest star tied to the team
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in a pickle. The team was finally starting to show some potential and garner some momentum only for Anthony Davis to hurt his foot. Davis will be out for at least a month, although it seems possible he could be out for longer.
This puts the team in a tough position. While the Lakers could stay afloat while Davis is hurt, they also could bottom out. The variance in this reality makes the front office’s decision on whether or not to make a trade a tough one.
On one hand, Los Angeles could finally make the splashy trade involving two first-round picks to try and stay afloat with Davis out. On the other hand, the front office may not be confident at all, leading them to not make any sort of trade, even a smaller one.
One thing is for certain, though. If Los Angeles gets the chance to trade Russell Westbrook and picks for an all-star they will do it. John Hollinger of The Athletic thinks that this reality could be a possibility, as he outlined a potential situation in which the Lakers can trade for Washington’s Bradley Beal.
"“I’m immediately drawn, for instance, to the idea of the Lakers trading Russell Westbrook and at least one of the picks to Washington for Bradley Beal. He is one of the few star players who can easily fit in as a third option next to James and Davis, yet is good enough to take over as the lead operator when James is off the court. Moving him to L.A. also seems like one of the few options that would save Washington from a disastrous no-trade clause in Beal’s generous five-year, $251 million deal. It would let the Wizards re-sign Kyle Kuzma without going into the luxury tax and likely leave enough cap room to ink another starter-caliber player too.”"
Hollinger goes on to mention that if the Wizards are interested in fighting for the eighth seed for the “43rd consecutive season” and don’t want to trade Beal that the Lakers could try something similar with someone like Zach LaVine.
Bradley Beal has existing trade ties to the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is not the first time that Bradley Beal has been tied to the Los Angeles Lakers. There previously have been rumors swirling around the potential of Beal coming to Los Angeles if the Wizards get buyer’s remorse on the large contract that they inked him to.
Heck, there are top executives in the league that reportedly think the Wizards should do anything they can to get off of Beal’s contract. If Washington is thinking that way, and other teams do not want to swallow that deal, then a Lakers trade could be possible.
Of course, it would take trading both first-round picks unprotected and it would also take Lakers ownership committing to being over the luxury tax yet again. With how Jeanie Buss operates, that is the most likely hurdle that will keep this kind of trade from happening.
But if it did happen it would certainly give the Lakers the shot in the arm that they need to contend in the near future.