Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the most expendable players right now
1. Michael Beasley
Michael Beasley has the potential to be one of the most underrated pieces of the Lakers’ bench squad. Unfortunately, he also has the potential to be one of the most pointless pieces.
The problem with Beasley is that there just don’t seem to be a ton of minutes to go around. With LeBron, Kyle Kuzma and Wagner all slated to see minutes at the 4, there’s almost no room for the offensive-minded Beasley to fit into the equation.
On top of that, it’s not like the Lakers have zero scoring coming off the bench. Depending on what the final starting lineup looks like, Los Angeles could be getting point production from the second unit from players like Josh Hart and Kuzma. Serving mainly as a 3-point threat and occasional scorer, Beasley doesn’t bring anything unique off the bench.
The Lakers have already shown they aren’t interested in getting him too involved. He played only six minutes in the first preseason game, and was wildly ineffective when given more minutes in the second game.
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Hopes were high when Beasley was signed that he’d be an underrated addition to this squad. The clearer the picture becomes as Oct. 18 nears, the more it becomes obvious that the former No. 2 overall pick doesn’t have much of a role on this roster. If that’s the case, he’s about as expendable as any Laker at this moment.