The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly offered second-year point guard Lonzo Ball in a trade package for Washington Wizards All-Star point guard John Wall, according to Kevin Broom of Bullets Forever.
The Wizards have gotten off to a putrid start to the season and there are rumors circulating that the front office in Washington isn’t opposed to trading John Wall or shooting guard Bradley Beal.
Wall signed a $170 million contract which starts in 2019. The explosive guard has the same agent as Lakers superstar LeBron James, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.
Source No. 1, a current NBA agent, surprised me by saying the story was true. The source said it’s something Rich Paul — agent to LeBron James and, as of January 2016, John Wall — was orchestrating. But, according to this source, the Wizards were saying no.
I was still dubious, so I checked with Source No. 2, another current NBA agent who’s at least as dialed in as Source No. 1. Source No. 2 said the rumor is true. This source said Lonzo Ball and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were definitely in the deal, but that there was still discussion whether the third player would be Ingram, Josh Hart, or Kyle Kuzma. While the boundaries of the deal were defined, details still had to be finalized, and the whole thing could still fall apart.
I went outside the agent network, and asked Source No. 3: someone who works in an unrelated industry but has long-standing connections to Rich Paul and LeBron James. Source No. 3 said Paul was trying to get Wall traded to the Lakers and that the Wizards would do it if Paul could get Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka on board. But, Source No. 3 warned, it wouldn’t be easy, because the Lakers like their youngsters. Source No. 3 added the nugget that Paul was working on trades to put talent around James because of fears that younger free agents “don’t want to play with LeBron anymore.”
Lonzo Ball is in his second year with the Lakers. The former No. 2 overall pick is averaging 8.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists on the season. Ball has a bright future, but can the Lakers and LeBron wait for Ball to turn into a scorer? Only time will tell.
Wall is averaging 21.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 8.4 assists with the Wizards. He's got a terrible contract that doesn't even start until next season, but maybe playing in LA and next to LeBron would help the All-Star guard play like a max player on both ends of the floor.
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