Lakers News: Latest On Team Options For Mo Bamba, Malik Beasley

Only one more day for the team to decide what to do!

The Lakers have until June 29th to make decisions on what they want to do with both Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba. Both players could be free agents this summer if the team doesn't exercise their options for next season. According to Lakers insider Jovan Buha, the team is still working through things with the two players.

The Lakers are still working through their options with Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba, sources tell @jovanbuha.

Their decisions will offer some clues about what the team values going forward.https://t.co/2P0IBvhBUw

— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) June 28, 2023

Beasley has a $16.5 million option for next season and while he isn't worth that much money, the team may elect to exercise it. They could always trade him down the line and with the new CBA coming up, his salary and expiring deal could be very valuable in trade talks. Beasley was played out of the rotation after a strong start to his Lakers career but he would give the Lakers another shooter on the roster. 

Another possibility could be to decline the option and then re-sign Beasley back to a more team-friendly style of contract. 

Bamba has a non-guaranteed $10.3 million contract that LA needs to make a decision on. He was limited during his brief time with the Lakers due to injury so he remains a bit of a wild card. That kind of money for a player like Bamba isn't the greatest value so LA may look to not guarantee his deal. 

However, the argument for Bamba could be that the center market is pretty weak and at least in theory, Bamba could do well playing alongside Anthony Davis. He spaces the floor well and does enough defensively where Davis could back him up.

LA has some choices to make and whichever route they decide to go, asset management needs to be the priority. We will see very soon what the Lakers are thinking and it will shape how the rest of the offseason goes for the team.