Proposed Trade Gives Lakers Long-Rumored Target For Malik Beasley & Pick

The Los Angeles Lakers could make a few big moves this offseason and NBA analysts have already shared their predictions. NBA teams have to complete the 2023 NBA Draft by June 22, which fuels pretty much every trade rumor out there. The Lakers have been liked to several players in the last few months and they may finally trade for a huge target.

Chris Paul and Kyrie Irving have been frequently mentioned as key targets for the purple and gold. Each of these two could become part of another Big 3.

Enter Bojan Bogdanovic.

Ku Khalil from Bleacher Report discussed a potential trade move. According to him, the Lakers could trade Malik Beasley and the 17^th overall pick of this year’s draft to get Bogdanovic.

“Out of all the trades I have on here, I think is the most likely one,” Khahil said. “I could really see both teams wanting to do this. … I’ll be honest, I would not be shocked if this trade happened on draft night.”

Lakers wanted Bogdanovic last season

Bogdanovic has been viewed as a lethal target for the Lakers. Trade rumors started spreading last season. Jovan Buha from The Athletic was among the first to discuss Bogdanovic and the Lakers.

“Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic continues to be the name most often tied to the Lakers in league circles,” Buha wrote in January 23.

The Lakers took a different route and agreed to a three-team deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz. They got D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley. These three found their spot on the roster and contributed to the game. Yes, Beasley didn’t get the best of his game and even sat out games in the postseason.

When it comes to Bogdanovic, he averaged 31.1 minutes in 47 career playoff games and also made 38.2% of his three-pointers.

Bojan Bogdanovic is phenomenal. Unguardable jab-step 3P pull-ups. KILLED Miami last night.

44.3 on C&S 3s, 47.6% corner 3s, 40.9% pull-ups 3s. 21.0 PPG on 1.54 points per shot—one of the most dominantly efficient volume scorers in the league. pic.twitter.com/erUcesyzqo

— NBA University (@NBA_University) December 7, 2022

The Lakers front office may give up on their trade target

Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN shared a completely different scenario. He believes that the Lakers won’t even look at big names on the market.

“There’s no big game hunting out there for this Laker organization,” Wojnarowski said on a June 16 episode of ESPN’s “Get Up.” “In this league right now, with a new collective bargaining agreement, you can’t really pay three max superstars and expect to have any depth on your roster. It’s going to look a lot the same, but think about a team next year that goes the entire season with [Rui] Hachimura, with [Austin] Reaves as your starter. They’ve got a chance to be very, very competitive in the West.”