NBA Rumors: Lakers And Three Other Teams Expressed Interest In Acquiring Bradley Beal, Per Shams Charania
Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal has been the subject of various trade rumors since the 2019 NBA offseason. Despite inking a massive contract extension with the Wizards last summer, Beal continues to be linked to teams that are in dire need of additional star power to have a better chance of conquering their respective conferences and winning a championship title. In a recent appearance on the Load Management podcast, Shams Charania of The Athletic talked about the rumors surrounding Beal and revealed the names of some teams that showed interest in acquiring him from the Wizards.
According to Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, and the Brooklyn Nets were among the teams that inquired about Beal’s availability via trade.
“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,” Charania said, as quoted by SB Nation’s Silver Screen and Roll. “I mean, [the Nets] have the pieces theoretically to make a competitive trade. So if Bradley Beal were to become available, I could see that. But again, there are other teams out there too… The Heat were a team as well that had interest. The Heat, the Lakers, New Orleans, those were the teams that I’ve heard.”
The Lakers, Nets, and the Heat were already considered legitimate threats in their respective conferences in the 2019-20 NBA season, but it’s no longer a surprise that they still wanted to add a player of Beal’s caliber to their roster. Beal would be an ideal target for the Lakers and the Nets. With his ability to excel in an off-ball capacity, Beal would be the perfect complement alongside ball-dominant superstars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles or Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn.
Meanwhile, since the successful acquisition of Jimmy Butler in free agency, the Heat have been active on the trade market searching for their second superstar. Though Bam Adebayo has already blossomed into an All-Star caliber player this season, the Heat still obviously need more star power in order to have a realistic chance of bringing home the Larry O’Brien Trophy. With his current performance, pairing Beal with Butler and Adebayo could dramatically change the Heat’s fate in the 2020-21 NBA season.
Of all the teams Charania mentioned, the Pelicans are the only ones who aren’t in the playoff race this season. However, with the improvements shown by their young core of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart, it still makes sense why the Pelicans are interested in adding Beal. At 26, Beal still fits with the Pelicans’ long-term plan and could immediately make them a team to watch out for in the Western Conference next year.
