The Tribune

By INIGO 'NAUGHTY' ZENICAZELAYA

IT has been about eight days since news broke via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that “every player” on the (7-12) Washington Wizards roster is “available” for the right trade offer.

At 11-8, my Lakers look like they could be a force in the Western Conference with some tweaking of the roster and a big name addition, at the right price.

The big name addition being Wizards All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal. The question now for Laker Nation is: Could “Magic” Johnson be posturing to make a play for the All-Star guard?

“Beal would be a perfect fit next to LeBron,” said one Eastern Conference scout. “He’s a much better shooter than [Brandon] Ingram, and LeBron needs shooters.”

Although Beal is only shooting 32.8 per cent from three-point range this season, he’s hit 39 per cent over his six-plus years in the league on 5.5 attempts per game.

Ingram is at 34.5 per cent this year and is only a 33 per cent shooter for his career on 2.1 tries each night.

The difficult part for Los Angeles is finding a trade package to entice the Wizards that also fits within the Lakers’ long-term plans.

Various league sources have the Wizards asking for so much in return, the deal may not be feasible to the Lakers.

LeBron James is 33 years old (34 in December) with significant NBA mileage logged in his 16th season.

Johnson must weigh how much of James’ prime he is willing to risk on the maybes of building a championship contender tomorrow. Beal averaged 15.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game as a 21-year-old.

He shot 40.9 per cent from three-point range on 4.1 attempts. He made a big jump two years later to 23.1 points per night.

Ingram, at 15.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists, probably won’t ever be as consistent an outside shooter as Beal, but Beal won’t ever have Ingram’s 6’9” height and 7’3” wingspan. Ahh, decisions, decisions !

The Wizards would trade Beal for Ingram, the Lakers’ prospect with the most upside. Los Angeles would need to include significant salary to balance a deal, presumably with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Michael Beasley (neither can be traded until December 15).

Um, question, why you slunkin’ on this “Magic”, let’s get this one done like yesterday!

• Naughty presents ‘Mischief and Mayhem in da AM’ from 6am to 10am, Monday to Friday and ‘The Press Box’ sports talk show on Sunday from 10am to 1pm, on KISS FM 96.1. Comments and questions to naughty@tribunemedia.net