Lakers News: Reporter Believes LA Will Opt To Overpay Swingman Next Season Because Of This Skill

Should he return next season?

The Lakers enter the 2023 offseason with a need to upgrade their roster. Despite going to the Western Conference Finals this past season, they need to improve things around the edges if they plan on running things back. However, the team could go in a different direction and totally remake the look of the roster by big game hunting. LA has signaled that they prefer the two stars and depth look but with this franchise, you can never count anything out.

One of the players that they have to make a decision on is guard Malik Beasley. He has a team option at $16.5 million for next season and many believe that the Lakers will decline it, even if they plan to try and resign him to a more team friendly contract. However, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype believes that the team will actually pick up the option for Beasley.

"Malik Beasley had a strong regular season with Utah but slowly fell out of the rotation following his trade to Los Angeles. The Lakers aren’t expected to operate with cap space this summer but they still project to have plenty of flexibility to fill out their roster cost-effectively while keeping Beasley. It would make sense to pick up his option since he should still be effective during the regular season and his $16.5 million salary would be good for salary matching in trades."

Per HoopsHype

Beasley averaged 11.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game with the Lakers after being acquired at the trade deadline. His tenure with LA started out well but he eventually was played out of the rotation due to poor shooting. Despite the struggles, he still shot 35.3 percent from three.

If the team does indeed pick up the option on Beasley, it could be to package his salary with their first round draft pick for another player. Or they could bring him into the regular season to then try and trade his expiring deal during the year. His salary is a good enough amount that some team looking to clear the books next year may be intrigued. 

Whatever the team does with Beasley, they can't let him walk away for nothing. He has a premier skill in the league, three point shooting, so they need to make sure to get something for him if they don't plan to retain his services.

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