Los Angeles Lakers Decline Minnesota Timberwolves Offer Of Michael Beasley
A lot of talk lately has had Michael Beasley being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for, possibly, a first round draft pick. Well it seems that that deal was extremely close to being offered and that the Timberwolves were actually the ones to offer Beasley to the Lakers but they turned it down. According to a source in a report by ESPN.com, “The Minnesota Timberwolves offered to trade Michael Beasley to the Los Angeles Lakers for a first-round draft pick, but the Lakers turned them down, according to a league source.”
The biggest reason for the Lakers turning down the Timberwolves offer is that since the Lakers have a salary cap of about $88 million, which is over the luxury tax threshold of $70 million, taking on Beasley’s contract would mean paying an extra $6.2 million in taxes on top of the already $18 million they are paying. Apparently Jerry Buss, who once was not worried about money or taxes isn’t so care-free due to the new collective bargaining agreement.
“Under the new revenue sharing plan in the recently adopted collective bargaining agreement, the Lakers will pay a bundle and because of that, owner Jerry Buss is no longer willing to spend so freely in going above the luxury tax, according to sources.” The Lakers have always been a team that is willing to spend freely and do whatever it takes to improve their team and win an NBA title. But I guess those priorities are no longer in place as Jerry Buss has focused on shedding cap space and making questionable calls all season long.
Beasley would have been a great addition to the Lakers front-court who could have provided a great scoring boost off the bench. The Buss family, through questionable decisions this whole season, are quickly running this great Lakers organization into the ground.
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