A big Los Angeles Lakers trade this offseason seems likely as LeBron James and Anthony Davis near the end of their contracts with the team. The 2023-24 season is do-or-die for LA, and the franchise will look to go all in to bring one more championship to town in the LeBron-AD Era. To do this, making a Bradley Beal trade with the Washington Wizards would make a lot of sense. Here is the deal the Lakers must offer the Wizards to have a chance at making this move.

Lakers must trade all remaining picks and do sign-and-trades for Bradley Beal

There are a ton of reasons a Lakers-Bradley Beal trade makes sense for LA. Beal is a sharpshooting guard who would fit nicely with James and Davis.

Beal is a three-time NBA All-Star and a one-time All-NBA player. He is an 11-year NBA veteran who turns 30 at the end of June, so there is still a lot of tread on his tires. Throughout his career, Beal has averaged 22.1 points, 4.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 37.2% from behind the 3-point line.

Despite the nice numbers and personal success, Beal’s Wizards have only been to the playoffs five times in those 11 seasons and have only gotten out of the first round three times. His teams have never made it past the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Beal is a great talent and an admirably loyal player (who has also made the most money he can by staying in Washington). However, most NBA fans would love to see what he can add to a true contender.

In the 2023 NBA offseason, the Wizards are in a good position to start a rebuild. Both Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma are expiring contracts this season if they pick up their player options. Plus, the team has the No. 8 pick this year, and if they finish with a draft pick higher than 12 next season, they get to keep it (if it’s 13 or higher it goes to the New York Knicks).

So, this is the ideal time to finally pull the trigger on a franchise-resetting Beal trade.

That said, here’s the problem with a Lakers-Bradley Beal trade.

If the Wizards truly want to knock it all down and start from scratch, the Lakers simply don’t have the draft capital to pull the deal off. The team has precious few draft picks to deal with.

On the other hand, if the Wizards want to try a softer rebuild to try and compete in the next few seasons, the Lakers do have the assets to make that possible.

The crux of a perfect Bradley Beal-Lakers trade is the Lakers’ No. 17 pick in 2023, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick, and sign-and-trades with Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell.

Now, there are several issues with this “perfect trade.”

One is that it would have to happen on draft night or shortly after, as the Lakers can’t trade this year’s pick until after they make it, which they could do on Washington’s behalf. Also, while the Wizards will likely want Reaves and maybe Russell as building blocks/future assets, they just got rid of Hachimura and may not want him back (or he may not want to go back).

All that means that this Lakers trade probably only works if there are additional teams involved that are willing to give up picks or assets the Wizards are more interested in than what the Lakers currently have to offer.

The Lakers may also have to give up Jarred Vanderbilt, who has one year and $4.6 million left on his contract.

This trade is not impossible by any means, but it is also not easy.

In the end, the Lakers will likely have to give up every asset they have right now outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis in order to bring Beal in. And even if they do that to get out from under every contract they currently have, the team will have to pay James, Davis, and Beal $133 million next season, which is just $1 million under the NBA salary cap.

Filling out the rest of the roster could be challenging after that. If any team can do it, though, it’s the Lakers. There would likely be several solid veterans who would come in and play for the minimum for a chance to win a title, and the LA scouting department is one of the league’s best. Maybe they can identify other players like Reaves, who they plucked from obscurity and made a star.