NBA Rumors: Former Lakers Star Suggests Four Players Team Should Target To Win 2020 Finals
The Los Angeles Lakers are still very much on top of the Western Conference standings with a 24-7 record. But with four straight losses and concerns regarding how they won most of their games against substantially weaker competition, the team has found itself once again at the center of several trade rumors. A few former NBA players have also chimed in with their thoughts on the people whom Los Angeles should be eyeing ahead of the February trade deadline, with one ex-Lakers standout recently taking to social media with his suggested acquisitions.
On Thursday, Nick Young went on Twitter to recommend four players the Lakers should ideally target, should they decide to shake up their roster and surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis with another proven star. The 34-year-old, who suited up for the Lakers from 2013 to 2017, said that his former team should consider acquiring one of the following players — Jrue Holiday (New Orleans Pelicans), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Will Barton, or Gary Harris (both of the Denver Nuggets) — if they want to win it all at the 2020 NBA Finals.
Commenting on Young’s recommendations, Fadeaway World speculated that all of these players may be difficult for the Lakers to land, given that they don’t have enough assets to make an appealing offer. While Barton and Harris aren’t on the same level as former All-Star guards Holiday and Beal, both Nuggets wingmen are key members of their team’s rotation and, as the publication noted, Denver likely won’t want to help a Western Conference rival like the Lakers improve their roster.
Regarding Beal, Fadeaway World pointed out that the Lakers won’t be able to land him for the current season, even if they had enough assets to convince the Wizards to part ways with him. As the 26-year-old shooting guard signed a contract extension with Washington in October, he won’t be eligible to be traded until the end of the 2019-20 campaign.
Bradley Beal drops 30 PTS for the 12th time this season! ?
37 PTS | 7 REB | 6 AST | 55.4 FPTS pic.twitter.com/sWEIQSriCj
— NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) December 21, 2019
Lastly, the publication explained that Holiday could make sense as a midseason target, due to the fact Davis had teamed with him in New Orleans, plus the rumors that the struggling Pelicans may soon place him on the trading block. As Holiday is a skilled player on both ends of the floor and a quality playmaker, Fadeaway World wrote that he likely won’t come cheap, especially for a team like the Lakers, who surrendered several young players and future draft picks in order to acquire Davis this summer.
Despite the challenges the Lakers might face if they target any of the aforementioned individuals, Young’s suggestions came shortly after another ex-NBA player, Kendrick Perkins, suggested his own midseason acquisition. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the former Cleveland Cavaliers center tweeted this week that Los Angeles could go after Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters, primarily for his scoring ability.
