In February, no one could have imagined the Los Angeles Lakers making the Western Conference Finals. However, Rob Pelinka did a fantastic work at the trade deadline, reshaping the roster to save the season.
The purple and gold avoided the Play-In, taking down the Grizzlies and then the reigning champs Warriors before being swept by Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets. Of course, it was a heartbreaking ending to their championship hopes, but if you look at the bigger picture, it was not a bad year at all.
That being said, a successful franchise like the Lakers will never settle for a deep playoff run. The goal is to add the banner No. 18 to the rafters, which is why the front office wouldn’t mind letting two players leave this offseason.
Rumor: Lakers won’t re-sign Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba
According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers are not planning to bring back Mo Bamba and Malik Beasley next season. Both of them arrived as part of the February overhaul, but never had a major role in the rotation.
“The two players it’s appearing won’t be back are Mo Bamba and Malik Beasley, if only because of their contracts. With the aforementioned six names [LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Max Christie] expected to return, the Lakers would be at around $120 million to $125 million — depending on the salary of Hachimura — in salary before factoring in cap holds or empty roster charges. Add Bamba’s $10.3 million non-guaranteed salary and Beasley’s $16.5 million team option, and they’re pushing $150-plus million with just eight players — and that’s before including free agents like Russell, Schröder or Walker.”
The Lakers have other priorities this offseason, starting with James or Reaves. Neither Bamba nor Beasley played an important role during the playoffs, so parting with them wouldn’t be so painful for the Lakers.
