The Los Angeles Lakers are considered the favorites to win the 2020 NBA Championship, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers right behind them, but the quest improvement in the NBA is never over. So it’s no wonder that the Lakers have been kicking the tires on one of the highest-scoring guards in the league, who also happens to be on a fringe playoff team, Washington’s Bradley Beal.
Shams Charania confirmed the interest of the Lakers, as well as other teams, during an appearance on the Complex podcast ‘Load Management.’
“At the end of the day it’s going to be up to Bradley Beal. Because they’re ultimately going to offer him the supermax contract that they can offer, and he’s going to have to make a decision on whether the Wizards are the right fit moving forward. There are several teams, you can say that about all 29 teams, you know ‘we’re interested.’ You can literally… New Orleans was a team that I’d 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.
“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.”
Beal has been with the Wizards his whole career and if the NBA does move forward with a return to play, they are going to be one of the 22 teams that return to play in Orlando. However, Beal’s running mate John Wall is still recovering from Achilles surgery and Beal also recently agreed to a two-year max extension that won’t kick in until the 2021-22 season. So, while the Lakers and fans can dream, this one doesn’t look like it will happen.
[lawrence-related id=31485,31476]