The Los Angeles Lakers need to bring in some stars before they risk burning through the remaining twilight of LeBron James’ prime. James is still an incredibly useful player when he sees the court, but it seems reasonable to expect that he will miss more time due to injuries as he continues to get older.
The Lakers will apparently not hire a replacement for Magic Johnson, and they are proceeding forward now that they have a new head coach in Frank Vogel (plus assistant Jason Kidd). That means the front office, as it stands, will be the folks in charge of finding whoever will star alongside James.
According to a report from Sporting News’ Sean Deveney, Los Angeles could be interested in targeting either Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors or Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards.
Via Sporting News:The Lakers have other players they’re targeting in trades, according to league sources. Chief among them is Wizards guard Bradley Beal, though with the Wizards not yet hiring a front office honcho, no decision has been made whether to trade Beal. But LA will be in position to make an attractive offer if Beal is put on the block.
There’s also interest in point guard Kyle Lowry, who could be available if the Raptors lose Kawhi Leonard in free agency. Because of Lowry’s age (33) and contract ($33 million for next season), the Lakers could bring him in for a relatively limited outgoing package.
We don’t have a solid way to predict how the New Orleans Pelicans will eventually respond to an overture by the Lakers with a package centered around the No. 4 overall pick for Anthony Davis. However, if Los Angeles gets a hard stop on that front, adding Beal to the squad in Southern California would be an attractive offer moving forward.
Now that L.A. has that pick, we are going to see just about every potential tradable piece in the NBA rumored in connection with the Lakers. Get ready for that over the next month or so.