Should the Warriors trade for Washington Wizards star guard Bradley Beal?
According to The Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks, the answer is unequivocal …
… absolutely.
“Golden State must live in the moment,” writes Tjarks. ‘The highest priority should be to keep [Steph] Curry happy, and he can not be happy to see how his team plans a future without him, while his peers put together superteams. His team has the chips to create the NBA’s next powerhouse, and the chips will never be as valuable as they are now. Beal is not on the market yet. But he will be soon. It’s time for Golden State to take it all in. ‘
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Tjarks went through different trade packages that could possibly lead to an agreement between the two teams. All are built around James Wiseman and the very valuable pick in the first round of 2021 (the top three protected) that the Warriors own via the Minnesota Timberwolves.
One scenario involves sending Andrew Wiggins to the Wizards.
“This agreement will give Washington a pull out of pull assets,” Tjarks writes. “The Wizards can demand a lot to get him out of Golden State’s books because he has little value for a rebuilding team.”
So the Warriors would send Wiggins, Wiseman, the Minny selection and additional future first players and / or swaps in exchange for Beal? It seems to Golden State awful lot to give up.
Wiseman had the best game of his career against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, scoring 25 points (9-for-14 from the field, 3-for-3 on 3s), six rebounds and two blocks. He was also great on the defensive side.
But the point of Tjarks is that the 19-year-old is not entirely in line with Golden State’s current championship window.
‘Wiseman, despite all his potential, does not really fit Curry and does not [Draymond] Green. It took him less than a month to lose his place in the starting lineup, “he writes. There are problems on both sides of the ball. Like all young big men, he still learns how to play defense at the NBA level. This learning curve can take years. ‘
But what if he makes great progress this season and is willing to be a formidable presence consistently next season when Klay Thompson returns and the Warriors are theoretically legal candidates again?
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As for Wiggins, he plays the best two-way basketball of his career, and the separation from him will leave a huge void in terms of the Warriors’ ability to protect the elite wings in the NBA.
Lastly, Beal has had an incredible season so far – 35.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game, while shooting 48% overall and almost 37% from outside the arc (with 7.2 attempts). The two-time All-Star is just 27 years old and is under contract through the 2021-22 season (he has a $ 37.3 million player option in 2022-23 that will surely be turned down). Beal will absolutely thrive on the Warriors. This can not be denied.
Let’s put a bookmark in this conversation for now and look at it again as the March 25 deadline approaches.
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