Washington Wizards star shooting guard Bradley Beal is once again spinning the trade rumor mill. Beal has been linked to half a dozen teams in the past as rumors were flying last summer that he could find himself on a new team, due to the fact that both sides were having trouble finding a middle ground with a contract extension.
Beal would eventually sign a two-year extension, which would ultimately dry out all the trade rumors that were floating around. However, recently there have been some new trade rumors surrounding the star guard. According to the New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy, the Brooklyn Nets have “internally discussed” the idea of acquiring Beal from the Wizards.
Although the report says that the Wizards are not actively shopping Beal, the idea of Beal being moved is not far-fetched. For the Nets, this deal would take complicated cap maneuvers for it to go through, the first being that to acquire Beal, the Nets must find a way to convince them to part ways with the guard. Washington’s front office wants Beal to stay for the long term, but have shown no signs of providing long-term success for the foreseeable future. This is due to the lack of talent surrounding Beal and injuries suffered to star backcourt-mate John Wall.
Prying Beal from Washington would take a lot of promising assets. To match salaries, and make the trade work financially, the Nets would have to give up most of their young core in Spencer Dinwiddie ($11.5 million), Caris LeVert ($16.2 million), and Jarrett Allen ($3.9 million).
That alone would not be enough to separate Beal from the Wizards. The Nets would also have to relinquish a future first-round pick or two. At that point, the trade might not even be worth it. They would be overpaying and mortgaging their future for one player. The addition of Beal might help the team talent-wise, but once they add his contract they will not be able to sign much depth to their bench. They already have two other max contracts on their roster from the 2019 free agency signings of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
The Nets just recently recovered from their 2013 trade with the Boston Celtics, where they traded four first-round picks and some key role players in return for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry. That trade would ultimately blow up in Brooklyn’s face, and the franchise would struggle near the top of the lottery for the next few years without having a pick to show for it. The Celtics would end up drafting presumed franchise cornerstones Jaylen Brown (2016) and Jayson Tatum (2017) with the use of the picks they acquired from Brooklyn.
If Brooklyn and Washington agreed on the trade that would send Beal to Brooklyn and some combination of the three young players and picks from Brooklyn to Washington, Then the Nets could have a repeat of the Celtics trade. Brooklyn has to give the Irving-Durant tandem a chance to work with that intriguing young core, before looking to the outside for solutions to get Brooklyn to a deep playoff run.
