Bradley Beal‘s future in Washington has become a popular subject of speculation around the NBA since it was revealed that new Wizards president of basketball operations Michael Winger has been given the power to launch a rebuild if he so chooses, Brian Windhorst stated during a Tuesday appearance on ESPN’s Get Up (YouTube video link).
“Michael Winger said he has not made up his mind yet,” Windhorst said. “But that indecision has led teams to keep a very close eye on the Wizards. They not only have Beal, but big free agents Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis.”
As Windhorst observes, if Winger and the Wizards were to consider moving Beal, trade negotiations would be complicated by the fact that the guard has a full no-trade clause and could veto any deal to an unfavorable destination. That will restrict Washington’s ability to maximize its return for the three-time All-Star.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Winger is at the top of the Wizards‘ new front office hierarchy, but he fully intends to delegate to his top lieutenants when it comes to draft preparation, as he tells Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “I hope not,” Winger replied when asked if he intends to go on the road to scout players in his new role. “If I’m doing that, something has gone terribly wrong with Travis (Schlenk) and Will (Dawkins). They’re just much better than I am.”
- Asked whether he’d consider joining the Hornets in free agency, Seth Curry didn’t rule out the possibility of signing with his hometown team, according to Sam Albuquerque of The Greenville News. Curry was born in Charlotte, where his father Dell Curry played for 10 seasons and is currently a color commentator on Hornets broadcasts. “You always think about it,” Seth said. “Growing up a Hornets fan, watching my dad play, you always think about one of us wearing that No. 30 Hornets jersey in the modern era. But like I always say, you never know in this league.”
- The Hawks, who hold the 15th and 46th overall picks in next week’s draft, are continuing their busy pre-draft workout schedule this week. Malcolm Cazalon (KK Mega), Bryce Griggs (Overtime Elite), Uros Plavsic (Tennessee), JT Shumate (Toledo), Terquavion Smith (NC State), and K.J. Williams (LSU) visited the team on Tuesday, with Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State), Jarkel Joiner (NC State), David Singleton (UCLA), and Malachi Smith (Gonzaga) set to join Jamarius Burton and Osun Osunniyi at Wednesday’s workout.
Idea from a Wolves fan (admittedly marginally biased) for the beginnings of a Washington blow-up/rebuild that also moves KAT to Knicks. There would need to be some picks going out here (likely from NYK to the other teams) but this would be a framework for players involved:
WSH get:
RJ Barrett
Mitchell Robinson
— Move off Beal’s longer-term max money to Barrett on a cheaper long-term deal in his place. Acquiring Robinson on a friendly deal allows them to move off Porzingis as well for more assets. Pick up some draft capital in this deal, get more players/capital trading KP, and maybe even more with a Kuzma S&T or use some of the relief to pay Kuzma if they want to keep him. Target PG (Wallace, Smith Jr) or PF (Walker, Hendricks) at #8 this year. Get young, start over.
MIN get:
Julius Randle
Immanuel Quickley
— Wolves solve the 2-center problem and also acquire their PG of the future in Quickley, while solving the CBA cap hell they’re facing soon with Towns/Gobert plus the ANT and McDaniels extensions. Randle is relatively cheap/affordable and on for multiple years. ANT gets his max, ride out Rudy’s contract if you can’t move him later on. Quickley and McDaniels both get paid in the 25-ish MM area per year, re-sign Alexander-Walker and Naz this offseason.
NYK get:
Karl-Anthony Towns
Bradley Beal
— Knicks look to build around a Beal/Towns/Brunson core for multiple years while Brunson is affordable; let Grimes cook behind Beal and try to move Fournier’s money into open space or as a match/filler in another deal, maybe decline the Rose option and feed PT to McBride or seek another backup. Have plenty of picks to move to MIN/WSH to acquire the stars. Re-sign Hart, keep Hartenstein backing up Towns. Would be counting on Toppin to come in and play significantly at PF but could look to find another way to upgrade there. If Brunson/Beal/Towns doesn’t work, you can move off one of Towns/Beal later.
Probably not realistic but if the Wizards want to blow this whole thing up and start over, it feels like it makes sense for all involved. Biggest Q would be how many picks is NY sending out, and do the Knicks see Towns/Beal as a big enough upgrade over Randle/Barrett and worth the long-term commitment.
As a Knicks fan: hell no. Towns is Charmin soft and will never win anything. Beal is injury prone and overpaid even if he stays on the court. And we’re supposed to include picks in the deal?
I might deal Randle or Barrett for a player at the same position who is a better shooter and defender. A bigger shakeup would only be justified for a true superstar – not those fools.
There is no way the knicks would say no to this lmao. Who on the team now better than kat when healthy or Bradley beal ?
I find it interesting that Tommy Shepherd left the Wizzards after Beal got extended. Shepherd was playing hardball all season long and suddenly, Beal gets an extension. No GM worth his salt would give this guy a deal like that. My spider sense tells me it’s the owner’s doing. Don’t expect the Whizz to win anytime soon.
Its funny how the media still takes pot shots at Jimmy Butler and the famous Timberwolves practice before trading him to Philly.
KAT was a big part of the problem then, and he is a big part of the problem now. Jimmy just played in a finals with little to no other offensive threats on his team.
Wolves need to move on. Find a guy that isn’t afraid of taking bumps in the post, and makes better decisions with the basketball on offense, and shoots a higher % if he is gonna hang on the perimeter all game at 7 feet tall
That’s the problem, most of the the media doesn’t have any problem with what Butler did in Minnesota. In fact they celebrate it. Towns and Wiggins were kids, they were bound to make mistakes. Butler wasn’t mature enough to handle the responsibility of being a mentor. Only one of the three have gone on to actually win a championship. Durant and Irving are professional about asking for trades and they get vilified.
Towns has a good head on his shoulders, he’s all about the team. He’s defended Edwards in the past and defended Gobert this past season. He even made it a point to get Gobert involved on offense before he got injured. In his first three seasons until injuries hit he played every game. With the exception of Jokic you are’t gonna find many 7 footers better at shooting, especially with his other offensive responsibilities. The dude is shooting .395 from deep for his career.
The last 2 media pieces within the last 3 months that I caught were hit pieces on Butler that I read.
How after the season the wolves just had is anyone’s guess, but lame-stream media seems to have agendas with certain players.
KAT isn’t getting hardly any heat from the media for being less than what he earns.
(Probably because he was door-to-door saling the Covid-19 vaccine…
Seth Curry back to the Sixers. Make it happen.