The NBA offseason is officially underway when the trade rumors around the biggest names in the sport start to swirl. That has been the case with Bradley Beal, who could end up being traded from the Washington Wizards this offseason. The Los Angeles Lakers have been circled as a potential team to watch on the Beal front as a result.
Beal does not have as much trade value as the casual NBA fan may think. His contract is an eyesore, he is going to be on the wrong side of 30 and he has a full no-trade clause that gives him complete leverage. Los Angeles does not have many assets to trade, so a low-cost star like Beal could be something that LeBron James pushes the front office for.
While it is possible, it is still more likely than not that a Beal trade won’t happen for the Lakers. If it doesn’t, Los Angeles may also have a potential plan B star that is in a very similar situation as Beal.
Zach LaVine could be Lakers’ plan B if Bradley Beal does not materialize
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported that the Chicago Bulls have started contacting teams and are quietly gauging the interest of LaVine on the trade market. LaVine, like Beal, has been in the trade rumors Hall of Fame in recent years so this is no surprise.
LaVine is in a similar situation as Beal. His contract is not the best and injuries have hampered his value in recent years. Like Beal, LaVine is not someone who should be a team’s best player as that team will not make it very far. As the third-best player, though, he could be useful.
Similar concerns give LaVine a similar trade value as Beal. Thus, any deal that is good enough to get Beal should be good enough to get LaVine. Los Angeles could theoretically sign and trade D’Angelo Russell on a contract that pays him $16-20 million next season and package him alongside Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba and the 17th overall pick. If it takes a few future seconds then so be it.
Would there be a risk to making this trade? Absolutely. LaVine has inherent concerns about his game and it would hamper the team’s ability to roster build around its new big three. That being said, LeBron is going to try his best to leverage whatever he wants the team to do and trading for LaVine very well could be what he wants.
After all, LaVine is a Klutch Sports client and Klutch unfortunately seems to have a big say on the moves that the Lakers make. Like Beal, trading for LaVine is still less likely, but it certainly should not be ruled out.