Buy or sell NBA trades: Lakers' young core for Beal, plus Fultz fits
Throughout the season, we're checking in on which big NBA topics are real or not.
In this edition: Should the Los Angeles Lakers deal their young pieces for Bradley Beal, and is Markelle Fultz worth a buy-low trade now?
Buy or sell: The Lakers should trade two of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma for Bradley Beal
The Washington Wizards have made their entire roster available in trade talks, according to a report by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, including Beal. Beal is one of the best young shooting guards in the league, currently in his third straight season of averaging more than 21 points per game with at least 2.4 made 3s.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are a team with a lot of promising young talent and plenty of salary cap space for 2019. They also feature a nearly 34-year-old LeBron James, still widely considered the best player on the planet and whose very presence puts them in win-soon mode. The Lakers need shooting and supporting stars to put around James.
So how much is too much to give up for Beal?
Let's answer that question with another question: Would this Lakers team plus Beal legitimately challenge the Golden State Warriors for a championship? Seems unlikely.
If the Lakers give up their most tradable assets to get Beal, their only other real methods of improvement from there would be internal development and free agency. Unfortunately, Beal's salary is over $25 million this season and increases to over $27 million next season. L.A. has no multiyear contracts anywhere near that scale except for James. While Beal wouldn't eliminate all of the Lakers' summer cap space, it would essentially take them out of the running to offer the full max to players such as Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson without totally stripping down the roster.
This question is more realistically phrased: Should the Lakers give up two of Ball, Ingram and Kuzma plus their ability to recruit a max free agent in exchange for Beal? That price would be too steep. The Lakers would likely need at least one more star player around James and Beal, and they would have given up too many of their improvement assets in this deal. L.A. would need to be sure that the remaining member of this young trio could either become that third star soon or easily be used to acquire one in a trade. That's taking on a lot of risk.
(Also keep in mind that the Lakers would likely need to include Rajon Rondo or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in such a deal to make the salaries work, meaning this would have to wait until their Dec. 15 trade restrictions are lifted).
So I sell that the Lakers should trade for Beal if the price is this steep. He'd be a great fit as a shooter and scorer next to James, but ultimately this limits the franchise's championship ceiling.
Buy or sell: A team should buy low on a Markelle Fultz trade
Fultz was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft, when the Philadelphia 76ers gave up the No. 3 pick (which became Jayson Tatum) as well as a future pick to select the consensus top prospect.
Now, 17 months later, Fultz's continued shooting issues and scheduled visit with a shoulder specialist have many wondering if he has played his last game for the 76ers, even though his agent has said there's been no trade request.
If the Sixers do eventually decide to trade Fultz, is he a good buy-low prospect? And which teams should take a chance on him?
The best potential destinations for Fultz would have certain characteristics:
- A need for an on-ball offensive creator
- A need for an overall increase in talent
- In a position to be patient
- A strong leadership structure that can both protect and mentor Fultz
The main teams that come to mind: the San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat and perhaps the Houston Rockets. In the first three cases, the teams have solid overall talent but lack franchise-caliber lead guards. All three have playoff aspirations, though they are unlikely to take the next step until they fill that lead guard need. And all three have strong coaches and veterans who can help Fultz grow.
The Rockets don't fit that exact mold due to their current championship aspirations, but they are also an older team that will need young legs. They could afford to let Fultz develop on the bench behind Chris Paul and James Harden, then give him more responsibility over time as Paul slows down with age.
Two other wild-card destinations that leap out are the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic. The Suns have a couple of really exciting young building blocks in Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, while the Magic feature a talented frontcourt of Nikola Vucevic, Mo Bamba, Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon. Neither team receives the same amount of attention as Philly, and both could use a player with Fultz's shot creation abilities. The Suns also have a renowned medical staff known for rehabbing injuries and extending the careers of older players (including Grant Hill and Steve Nash).
We don't know what the Sixers' asking price would be in a trade, but it's difficult to still value Fultz as a typical No. 1 pick. I would buy any of these teams taking a chance on him.
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