Lakers News: Mo Bamba Traded To LA For Patrick Beverley, Draft Compensation
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Your Los Angeles Lakers are not done dealmaking just yet, in what has been an active deadline for the club.
LA is sending out the $13 million expiring contract of 6'1" starting "shooting" guard Patrick Beverley to the Orlando Magic in exchange for 3-and-D rim-rolling center Mo Bamba, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Beverley himself was also ostensibly supposed to be a 3-and-D veteran presence with the Lakers this season on the perimeter, but had not been particularly great at either the "3" or the "D" in that equation.
Charania adds that Los Angeles is sending out some level of second-round draft picks to Orlando, though as of writing it is unclear how many of LA's six available seconds it had to burn. Now, the Lakers' frontcout looks almost entirely different behind starters LeBron James and Anthony Davis, as Bamba and Jarred Vanderbilt look to give the team some actual AD insurance and a real defensive interior presence when The Brow sits and/or is hurt for another five-and-a-half weeks.
This represents a massive upgrade over LA's prior big man bench rotation, Thomas Bryant (now with the Denver Nuggets) and Wenyen Gabriel, a raw, skinny big with some athleticism who had been given way too long a leash by Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.
With this deal, the Lakers second-most annoying overpaid, washed up veteran point guard (among three) is finally away from the team where he belongs. LA fans will no longer need to cringe every time Beverley, Russell Westbrook, or Kendrick Nunn are on the floor actively hurting the team's chances of winning a game. The has added youth, athleticism and defense with its recent moves -- though it could still certainly use more defense along the perimeter to help Malik Beasley and LeBron James.
With several second-rounders and one very valuable 2029 first still in its coffers, LA may not be done dealing yet.
