The Los Angeles Lakers entered the NBA offseason with multiple needs and not much room to operate. Their Big 3 of LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis get the bigger chunk of their salary cap.
Rob Pelinka could only do so much with the leftover money. He signed a couple of serviceable role players in the first couple of days of free agency, but it still seems like the team needs something else to get over the hump.
Also, you don't have to be a basketball connoisseur to realize that the Lakers need shooters who can help them stretch the floor. That's why an unnamed Western Conference executive suggested they should go after Malik Beasley.
NBA Rumors: Western Conference Executive Claims Lakers Should Trade For Malik Beasley
"They need shooting," the executive told Sean Deveney of Heavy. "If you don't get Kyrie, you need shooting. If you do get Kyrie, you need shooting. So they're keeping their options open for that. They've asked about Eric Gordon but they don't have the pieces to get him, not right now, at least, the [Houston] Rockets are playing hardball on him for some reason."
"But I think Malik Beasley is the guy they should be looking at if they can get him from Utah," the executive added. "They asked about him when he was in Minnesota, now, they can try to get him in a situation where Utah does not want him. The Jazz want picks so the Lakers would have to give up one of their picks, but he is in their range."
That's not a far-fetched thought at all. He's on a team-friendly deal so they could absorb his contract, and he was coming off the best season of his career and didn't need a lot of touches to be efficient.
