With the 2019-20 NBA season officially coming back, the Los Angeles Lakers will finally get their chance to complete their mission of winning the NBA championship.
The Lakers, along with 21 other teams, will be heading to Walt Disney World to compete in the remainder of the regular season as well as the playoffs. L.A. appears set to enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, but their first-round opponent may come down to whoever emerges from a play-in tournament.
Regardless, the franchise’s playoff drought has already come to an end as the Lakers clinched a berth back in March. LeBron James and Anthony Davis formed the NBA’s most formidable duo when the latter was acquired in a blockbuster deal this past summer, and the two will be the ones to lead the Lakers to the promised land.
However, in an appearance on the “Load Management Podcast,” Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed the Lakers were among the many teams with interest in Bradley Beal:
“At the end of the day it’s going to be up to Bradley Beal. Because they’re eventually going to offer him the supermax contract that they can offer, and he will have to make a decision on whether the Wizards are the right fit moving forward. There are several teams (interested), not only the Nets. You can say that about all 29 teams, you know, ‘We’re interested.’ New Orleans was a team I had heard last year had looked into it. All 29 teams across the league, if you’re trying to win games — The Lakers, at different points they’ve had interest in Beal.
“If you’re trying to win basketball games, you’re going to have interest in Bradley Beal. But everything he’s said so far, he wants to stay a Wizard. The Wizards have said they want to keep him. I don’t expect something on him until we see John Wall and Bradley Beal play again. … The Heat were a team as well that had interest. The Heat, the Lakers, New Orleans. Those were the teams that I’ve heard.”
Beal has blossomed into one of their premier perimeter players in the league and has steadily improved every year. Although he was snubbed from this year’s All-Star Game, the shooting guard was carrying a Washington Wizards squad that was still in playoff contention.
A player of Beal’s caliber would fit seamlessly on the Lakers, but the 26-year-old has repeatedly said he is no hurry to leave Washington. Not only that, but the purple and gold lack blue chip assets that would even tempt the Wizards.
While swinging a deal for Beal is far-fetched, the Lakers are still in prime position to chase a championship.