Deal of the Day: How would a Bradley Beal trade to the Nuggets look?

Deal of the Day is an exercise in NBA deal making and a sanity check for yours truly as we wait for the NBA Draft. Each day I’ll post a trade idea I think helps the Wizards. No trade is too small, no trade is too big…but I only have so many 4+ team trades in me, I swear. Move up in the draft? Yessir. Move back? Yup. All trades are run through tradenba.com’s simulator.

Salary cap rules may be bent but hopefully not broken.

Today’s Deal of the Day: The Wizards trade Bradley Beal to the Nuggets

Thanks to Alex Choi for submitting the primary target (Bradley Beal) and the destination (Denver).

The front office’s current plan is to get the band (John Wall and Beal) back together and see how they do. That’s the “plan.” They’re not planning to trade either guy before the trade deadline. That makes next offseason a fork in the road. What giant salaries would a Wall trade bring back? Is that a good enough return for Beal to opt in or commit to staying? If not, it could be time for a Beal deal. I’m on record saying the Wizards shouldn’t even consider the possibility until they know the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery results.

But this ain’t that. This is Deal of the Day and the community gets what it wants. In this case what it wants is to know what comes back if the Wizards trade Beal to the Denver Nuggets before the 2020 NBA Draft.

Here’s the deal:

The Wizards trade:

• Beal (PPA 160)
• center Moritz Wagner (PPA 61)
• forward Isaac Bonga (PPA 83)

to the Nuggets for

• forward Michael Porter Jr (PPA 125)
• guard Gary Harris (78)
• wing Will Barton (142)
• 2020 first round pick 22nd overall (via Houston). Denver selected point guard Kira Lewis Jr with the 22nd pick in my most recent mock draft. New mock coming this weekend.

Why the Nuggets do the deal?

Denver’s run to the Western Conference Finals whets their appetite for more. Tim Connelly goes big with a deal for a third star to run with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. They get a bona fide star in Beal, another long rangy forward who’s improved his shooting as a pro in Bonga and a stretch 5 hopeful in Mo Wagner.

They give up a rising scorer in Porter who can be equal parts scintillating and head-scratching. Harris is a culture guy but a bit expensive — he’s owed $40.5 million over the next two seasons.

Barton turns 30 in January with two seasons and $28.3 million remaining on his contract. All are good players but seeing how far they got without Barton this year makes it that much easier to include him.

The Wizard push to include either Bol Bol or a future first but Connelly asks for #37 at which point things start getting more complicate so Denver tosses in a future second rounder (2023) to finish it.

Connelly gets his star, extends Jerami Grant to lock up his core four of Murray, Jokic, and Beal with the oldest among them at 26 years old.

Why the Wizards do the deal?

(Because Alex Choi said so.) Turning Beal and the former Lakers into at least two starters and a key reserve plus a pick is a nice haul. Porter posted 20 and 10 per 36 in reserve minutes in the regular season, shooting 42% from long range. He always had big time potential. Now he’s produced big time shot making. After some redshirt time and development with the Nuggets he’s ready to realize it with the greenest light in the NBA from Scott Brooks.

Self Editor Note: Rui and MP in the same front court. Hoo boy! Replace one of them with Davis Bertans and bombs away!

Barton, originally from Baltimore, shot 37.5% from deep this year with per game averages of 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 33 minutes. He’s in his prime right now, he plays multiple positions and is an absolute bucket off the bench if not starting, which he did this year in Denver — and probably would in Washington, if this trade happened.

Harris is the tough pill to swallow, salary wise. Grab some water and get comfy because that's what it costs to pry the other two wing assets away from the Rockies. Harris hasn’t shot well from three for the past two seasons. Before that he had back to back years of 40%-plus.

Ah, the sweet sweet smell of redemption narratives. Gotta love them. The problem is his defense has slipped too. The Wizards think a fresh start will do him good. He’s a bit undersized but makes up for it with high IQ play and active defense.

The Wizards can take a player at 22 or package it with 37 to move up and snag a player sliding on draft night, like say, Precious Achiuwa. Having already added Vassell at 9 (I’m doing a new mock draft this weekend but for now its Vassell at 9) it makes sense they’d look for shooting in Desmond Bane or more defensive versatility in Xavier Tillman. Of course they could use 22 to move up from 9 as well.

Here is how the rotation could look:

• Starters: Wall — Harris — Porter — Hachimura — MLE C
• Bench: Ish Smith/Troy Brown — Vassell — Barton — Bertans — Thomas Bryant plus whoever they get with their draft assets.

In this scenario Tommy Sheppard has surrounded Wall with shooters, there’s scoring almost everywhere you look and some “play the right way” sprinkled in. And there are 2-3 chances to add more defense via the draft.

It all hinges on health. Porter has to stay on the court. Harris and Barton have to bounce back from injuries of their own. A lot could go wrong. As I said I’d prefer a high lottery pick in 2021, but I can see how Wizards fans could get excited about this type of package for Beal.

• Want to request a trade target? Email me at Jheiser3 (at) gmail.com and include your BF screen name.
• Want to send in a challenge, something tricky? Email me at Jheiser (at) gmail.com and include your BF screen name.