Lakers Closing in on Last-Minute Trade for Michael Beasley

With one trade being made by the Los Angeles Lakers thus far, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak will be exploring options and offers while working the phones like a madman up until the NBA trade deadline at 12 p.m. PST.

The one player that seems to be headed to Los Angeles right now is Michael Beasley of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The T’Wolves have been working hard to find the right deal for Beasley over the past month or so and talking with many different teams in the process. Apparently, the Lakers’ draft picks and trade exception ($8.9 million) are what they are looking for in exchange for the small forward at that this point.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, this deal for Michael Beasley is heating up as we speak:

The Lakers revisited talks to acquire Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley on Wednesday, multiple league sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com. Several variations of the trade have been discussed. One would land Beasley on the Lakers in a three-team deal that would send Portland Trail Blazers guard Jamal Crawford to the Wolves and Luke Ridnour from Minnesota to Portland. Los Angeles would give up one of its two 2012 first-round draft picks in the deal and use its $8.9 million trade exception, acquired when it traded Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks in December, to absorb Beasley’s approximate $6.3 million salary. Portland would also receive the Lakers’ first-round pick.

The slight change in this trade proposal has Steve Blake heading back to the Portland instead of Luke Ridnour being involved for Minnesota. This change may have been on the T’Wolves behalf due to the recent season-ending injury (torn ACL) suffered by rookie point guard Ricky Rubio against the Lakers.

So with time continuing to run off the clock for the Lakers, the result of all these trade rumors and speculation might just be Michael Beasley suiting up in purple and gold after the trade deadline passes.