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With the rumors surrounding Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and his representation saying that his goal is to compete right now for a championship, there is speculation around who the team can add to make them better. As there are rumors around James being traded from the Lakers, Bill Simmons has an idea on who the team can acquire in an act of “desperation.”
The player he would mention is Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal, who has been under scrutiny with his disappointing level of play and huge contract. However, Simmons on his self-titled show would say that Los Angeles is a team that could have interest in Beal “from a desperation standpoint.”
“I think the Lakers are in there from a desperation standpoint on getting some sort of person that makes them feel different than they were last year,” Simmons said. “I’m putting Sacramento in here because I think they’re just in no man’s land and they’re somehow back to who they were for the entire 2010s, and they just have this weird team that doesn’t make sense, and are they capable of anything.”
“I had Phoenix because of this Beal situation,” Simmons continued. “What do you do? You can't buy them out, that would be idiotic. Do you hope he's gonna be better? You can't trade him. Do you bury him? You be like “You know what, you're just not going to play basketball anymore, we're not going to play you.’”
Bradley Beal is likely staying with Suns, despite Bill Simmons' Lakers link
With the Lakers linked to many players in the offseason, Beal hasn't really been one of them due to his level of play and the contract, as said before. Even Jake Fischer of “NBA Insider Notebook” would say that the expectation is that Beal is part of the Suns and will try to rebound from many down seasons.
“I think there's really nothing to expect on the Bradley Beal front outside of Bradley Beal being a member of the Phoenix Suns and trying to have a bounce-back season,” Fischer said. “If he does that, and by bounce back season, I want to say Bradley Beal also, because of just how poor overall Phoenix’s season went, I think his success and his efficiency as a shooter honestly got a bit overshadowed, clouded. The guy averaged 17 points a game last year, shooting 38% from three in 32 minutes per game.”
“The world out of Beal land is that Bradley Beal is healthy,” Fischer continued. “He’s going to come back at 32 years old with two years left on his deal and be a real factor in Phoenix's backcourt alongside Devin Booker and newly added Jalen Green.”
At any rate, Los Angeles is looking to improve after finishing 50-32 record, which put them third in the Western Conference before being eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
