NBA Rumors: Lakers nearly pulled off unique trade with West foe

The Los Angeles Lakers have done a wonderful job during the 2023 summer. After making the Western Conference Finals last season, the Lakers were able to construct a roster that is built around the existing core with key additions.

Even the moves that were on the worse end of the spectrum — such as the Gabe Vincent signing — were done so in a way to maximize the talent on the roster now and the team’s ability to add talent in the future. It has been a masterclass by Rob Pelinka and the front office.

There were a lot of moving parts behind the scenes that fans were not privy to and that almost led to the Lakers making a unique trade with the Dallas Mavericks. Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype reported that the Mavericks were working on a potential sign-and-trade for Malik Beasley before he ended up signing with the Milwaukee Bucks.

"“Dallas considered a sign-and-trade possibility with the Lakers for Beasley during the process, league sources told HoopsHype. The Bucks, Sixers, Suns, Raptors, Mavericks, and Warriors expressed interest in Beasley, as previously reported on HoopsHype.”"

NBA rumors: Lakers could have flipped Malik Beasley for an asset

Why this potential sign-and-trade fell through is unclear. The most likely reason is that the Mavericks were not willing to meet the Lakers’ trade demands, or that other priorities took focus (such as Dallas’ sign-and-trade for Grant Williams).

Even though the Lakers declined Beasley’s player option, the team could have re-signed him and flipped him to Dallas. Los Angeles had Bird Rights on Beasley, so he could have been signed for slightly more than the minimum to be flipped to Dallas.

There are a few potential targets that could have been acquired in a trade for Beasley. JaVale McGee probably made the most sense as he is making $5.7 million this upcoming season. Los Angeles could have theoretically given Beasley a one-year, $5.5 million contract and sent that to Dallas for McGee.

Los Angeles needs a center and McGee would have been a solid veteran to add for depth. Dallas would have been able to flip McGee and his two years for just one year of Beasley, opening up more cap space for next summer.

It makes sense on paper but for some reason, it ended up falling through.