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Bradley Beal has had a very strong season individually for the Washington Wizards. He is averaging a career-high 30.5 points and 6.1 assists per game, and a major reason why people want to see the Wizards play. The only downside is that the Wizards are just 24-40 this season.
According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, the Brooklyn Nets have internally discussed how to make a trade for Beal. Since the 2019-20 NBA trade deadline has passed, the earliest any deal could happen is during the next offseason.
As you might expect, Beal could form part of a “Big Three” along with point guard Kyrie Irving and forward Kevin Durant. The Nets have championship aspirations with their new duo and someone like Beal could help them get there.
But are the Wizards likely to entertain offers for Beal? Not at the moment. At a minimum, they are holding out to see how he works out with John Wall once he is able to get back on the court after suffering an Achilles rupture in 2019.
Fred Katz of The Athletic noted that as well:
As Bondy notes in here, Beal has given every indication he doesn’t want to be traded. The Wizards, meanwhile, don’t want to trade him. Just a note to the public: That’s got to be part of any hypothetical Beal trade convo. https://t.co/UvVzgfxoIc
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) May 21, 2020
Besides the Wizards’ desire to keep Beal, we have to consider what a trade scenario with the Nets would look like. My guess is that Brooklyn will offer some younger players like Caris LeVert’s ($16.2 million cap hit in 2020-21 per HoopsHype) and Spencer Dinwiddie’s ($11.4 million cap hit in 2020-21) salaries to make the numbers work out.
But again, I don’t see Washington making a move when they are still holding out hope that Beal and Wall can form a top NBA backcourt once again. Given everything the Wizards have said and the moves they have made to keep Beal and Wall long term, they have to give the “House of Guards” one more chance.