Most every team in the NBA could use another elite shooter, but there are only a handful of teams right now that make sense as a trade partner with the Wizards in a potential Bradley Beal trade. The Lakers, Pistons, Hornets and Bucks have emerged as the most likely suitors for Beal – who is expected to be traded before the February deadline. The New York Times’ Marc Stein and The Ringer’s Bill Simmons recently talked about whether or not the Lakers should be pushing for a Beal trade now. Simmons believed the Lakers would and should give up Brandon Ingram in a trade for Beal, but Stein thinks Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson should wait it out for a crack at Anthony Davis this coming summer. Here is more on NBA Trade Rumors Bradley Beal Lakers Pistons Hornets and Bucks.
“I saw Ingram in person a few weeks ago and I’m still not positive what he is,” Simmons said regarding NBA Trade Rumors Bradley Beal Lakers Pistons Hornets. “To me it looks like he’s a 6-foot-10 shooting guard. Forget the Durant comparisons. He’s got a really strange body for what his skill-set is. He’s a shooting guard. He’s a perimeter player that’s really tall. I don’t know where that goes.
“I still like him. I still think he’s a top 35 trade asset. But if I can turn him into Bradley Beal, who is only 25 and has been in a really F-d up situation, I’d do it,” Simmons continued. “Beal is playing with a point guard who just thinks he’s better than he is. A variety of bad coaches. A Hall of Fame bad GM. He’s been on a bunch of really weird teams.
“I just like the way Beal carried himself two years ago against Boston. I thought he was awesome. I really loved him. If LeBron’s the best guy, I think he can be the second best guy on a Finals team.”
Stein had this to say about the matter.
“Look, everybody wants Bradley Beal,” he said regarding NBA Trade Rumors Bradley Beal Lakers Pistons Hornets. “I’m not disputing that in any way shape or form. I just think it would cost the Lakers two of their prized young guys to get him. By doing that you’re taking yourself out of potentially getting Anthony Davis.”
The Hornets, meanwhile, have a 13-13 record and look like they’re going to take a page out of the Raptors book and go as far as they can in 2018-19, regardless of where that leaves them down the road. Kemba Walker has been phenomenal, but Charlotte could certainly use a high-end backcourt mate.
For what it’s worth, Spencer Percey of the blog Queen City Hoops said a source told him that the Wizards asked for Malik Monk and Miles Bridges in a potential trade for Beal.
The Pistons are also making a playoff push this season and could give up Reggie Jackson in a deal. Detroit does own its own 2019 first round draft pick but that pick would be somewhere in the 20s if they were to trade for Beal.
The Bucks will also look at a Beal deal but they too are scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to assets to flip. Eric Bledsoe, Tony Snell and a pick likely isn’t going to get it done.
Beal is considered something close to a Top 20 player in the NBA. Boston’s Kyrie Irving is also in that range and the Celtics had to surrender their then-best player in Isaiah Thomas and a Brooklyn draft pick that wound up being a lottery pick. The Celtics also had to throw in other key pieces to make the deal work.
The only team mentioned above that has the asset flexibility to overwhelm the Wizards is the Lakers. The good money is that Beal finishes the season with the Wizards and that Washington looks to trade him this coming summer.
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