The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to make any major acquisitions this offseason, but point guard Patrick Beverley and forward Bojan Bogdanovic appear to be two potential trade targets for the storied franchise.
Patrick Beverley and Bojan Bogdanovic are two potential trade targets to keep an eye for the Lakers, per @ShamsCharania on @PatMcAfeeShow.
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) August 23, 2022
Shams: "The Lakers are open to anything that will make their team better… I don't think that they're done necessarily. Kyrie Irving to the Lakers for now is not a thing."
Some names he mentioned:
– Patrick Beverley
– Bojan Bogdanovic#NBATwitter #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/JZKLkfx7iL— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) August 23, 2022
As Lakers fans know well, the team has been at the center of a lot of trade rumors already this summer. Though those trade rumors have dealt primarily with star players, this more recent report indicates that the Lakers are also looking at solid starters who aren’t quite at the star level.
However, just because Beverley and Bogdanovic are not seen as potential faces of a franchise does not mean that they wouldn’t offer important benefits to the Lakers if the team acquired them.
In the case of Beverley, he is known as one of the better defensive guards in the league. Last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he averaged 9.2 points, 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
He also came in 10th place in the league in deflections last season at 2.7 per game, according to the NBA’s hustle leaderboard.
Earlier this summer, Beverley indicated that he had interest in joining the Lakers, and he even hinted at what he’d bring to the table as a leader on the team.
As for Bogdanovic, he’s been a starter for the vast majority of his career and would be a solid addition to the Lakers lineup. Though he’s primarily played small forward in his career, he was slotted into the power forward position with the Utah Jazz last season.
If he were to join the Lakers, it’s possible that he would line up next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the team’s staring frontcourt.
Last season, Bogdanovic averaged an impressive 18.1 points per game on 45.5 percent shooting from the field and 38.7 percent shooting from three. His ability to stretch the floor with his shooting prowess is part of what makes him such a valuable player.
Still, if this summer has proven anything to Lakers fans, it’s that rumors and reports of interest should always be taken with a grain of salt. Just because the Lakers have interest in such players does not mean that a trade will magically take place.
However, it is good to see that the Lakers seem to be changing their offseason approach after months of striking out on a blockbuster deal.
Perhaps some exciting news will be coming out of L.A. in the near future.
