The NBA is set to resume its 2019-20 season in Orlando with 22 teams, with 8 teams fighting for 8th seed in each conference. As the Los Angeles Lakers advance into playoffs with the best odds of winning the championship this year, they plan to add an important piece to their roster. Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed that Bradley Beal piqued Lakers’ interest at ‘different points’.
The lone non-playoff team from eastern conference invited to Disney World is the Washington Wizards. Wizards are 5.5 games behind 8th seed in east and its unlikely that they beat Orlando Magic for the 8th spot to advance into playoffs. However, they cannot be completely ruled out of the conversation because of their all-star shooting guard Bradley Beal.
Even if Washington Wizards win all the games in the scheduled regular season, which is highly unlikely, Orlando Magic will be within 4 wins. Therefore, Wizards will have to beat them again in play-in tournament. As Wizards’ point guard, John Wall has ruled himself out for the rest of the season their playoff quest becomes even harder.
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Bradley Beal averaged a career high 30.5 points a game this season. with 0.455 efficiency. In addition, he averaged 6.1 assists a game in the absence of their point guard John Wall. Bradley Beal is only 26 years old which makes him a good prospect for any team from either a rebuilding point of view or championship run. He has not particularly shown any interest in being traded, neither is Washington looking to trade him unless Beal requests it.
Do the Lakers have enough to offer Wizards for Bradley Beal?
In addition to the lakers, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, and Brooklyn Nets have also expressed their interest in acquiring Bradley Beal. From a financial standpoint, the lakers will be in a tough spot as they have already offered super max contracts to Lebron James and Anthony Davis. They may have to trade Danny Green, JaVale McGee, and Kyle Kuzma to clear their cap space. And if Washington is not willing to trade Beal for Kuzma, JaVale, and Green they may have to give up their 2020-21 first-round draft pick too.
With a weak bench as it is if the Lakers lose Danny Green and JaVale, their entire offense will revolve around Lebron, AD, and Beal. Moreover, they have good scorers in AD and Danny Green, they need shot creators. Even though acquiring Bradley Beal ensures Lakers’ chances of being championship contenders after Lebron retires they should concentrate on signing role players.
If the lakers decide to go into rebuilding after Lebron’s retirement they might lose some good years with Anthony Davis and Bradley Beal. Without a top 10 draft pick and anything valuable to offer in trades, this Bradley Beal trade will put Lakers in a tough spot in the future.
It’s less of a certainty that Washington would accept to trade a player of Beal’s caliber for Kuzma and Green.