Bradley Beal does not seem like he will be a Washington Wizard for much longer and the Los Angeles Clippers are the perfect destination for him.
TheLos Angeles Clippershave a potential dream situation on their hands in the coming weeks. WhileBradley Bealis not the A-list NBA superstar that will make a huge difference, he is going to potentially lead to wonderful things for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Some backstory.
Adrian Wojnarowskifirst reportedlast week that the Washington Wizards would be willing to include either Beal orJohn Wallin a trade package this season.
If that was not enough of a reason to think one of the two would get traded, Beal reportedly wants to get traded out of Washington,although he refuted those reportsafter the team defeated the Houston Rockets.
While that might be promising for a Wizards fan to hear, it is not something to entirely bank on. There has been a historic discord between Beal and Wall and the Wizards obviously cannot win with them. It might just be time to blow it up.
The only problem is that the Wizards will likely not be able to trade Wall. Wall’s extension kicks in after this season and he will make, on average, $42.3 million per year. No team in the NBA is going to trade for arguably the fifth or sixth-best point guardat bestfor that hefty of a contract.
That leaves the Wizards needing to trade Beal, hoping to get 75 cents on the dollar and get a piece that can still leave the team in a situation to realistically make a run in the future.
For most NBA analysts, the best fit seems to be on the Los Angeles Lakers forBrandon Ingram. However, the Los Angeles Clippers also have a very interesting package to offer Washington.
This is the definition of paying 75 cents on the dollar for a player and would set the Los Angeles Clippers up very nicely.
Danilo Gallinariis playing well but Bradley Beal is still the better player and the Clippers can benefit from cashing out on Gallinari’s promising season. He would be the main piece in the deal that could convince the Wizards that they could still build a contender.
Along with Gallinari, the Clippers can send 2018 lottery pick,Jerome Robinson, who has promise as a scorer but has played in a total of 40 minutes this year. In Washington, the path to getting some minutes is easier.
This final piece,Milos Teodosic, is not someone that the Clippers necessarily need to throw in there but would complete the classic “three mediocre guys for one good guy” trade that we see in the NBA.
I understand fans hate dealing draft picks but if everything goes as planned, that 2020 draft pick won’t be great and if it is the team has protection.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers would be adding a star in Beal without actually taking on more salary. In fact, with Robinson and Gallinari’s contract included, the Clippers would only be adding just under $2 million in payroll next summer.
That still leaves the team with enough cap space to either go out and sign a superstar pair, likeKawhi LeonardandDeMarcus Cousins, or bring in someone like Leonard and still be able to extendTobias Harris.
Either way, this creates the path to a true big three in LA that would rival that of any team in the league. The Clippers would need to figure out the bench with so many expiring contracts but the team at least knows it can count onLou Williams,Sindarius ThornwellandAvery Bradleyoff the bench.
That is a decent trio off the bench and a drafted center in the first round in the 2019 NBA Draft could sum up the roster.
That would give the Los Angeles Clippers a theoretical starting five of, let’s say,Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Bradley Beal, Kawhi Leonard, Tobias Harris and Montrezl Harrel with Lou Williams as the sixth man. That is a team that can win the title.
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