Bradley Beal could be moved this summer as the Wizards and their newly reconstructed front office figure out the next plan of attack for the franchise. According to multiple reports, Beal and the team are working through the possibilities because Beal holds the league’s only negotiated no-trade clause. So he basically calls the shots here.
Beal is going into the second year of a five-year, $251 million contract due to pay him $46.7 million next season, $50.2 million the year after that, and $53.6 million in ‘25-’26. He also has a player option worth $57.1 million in ‘26-’27.
That's a lot of money.
CAN BOSTON GET HIM?
Well, that depends. They're not going to give up Jaylen Brown for him, so any deal involving him is out.
Now the real question is: what does Beal want?
If he tells Washington ‘I want out, trade me to Boston and I’ll reject everything else,” then they have to work with the Celtics. Boston still has to match salaries, and they have to get it within 110% of the aggregated salaries instead of 125, so there's much less wiggle room. But Boston has a path to getting there salary-wise.
A combination of Malcolm Brogdon and one of Boston’s other guards, Marcus Smart or Derrick White, plus Danilo Gallinari matches almost exactly. They can throw whatever picks and reach a deal. If the salaries match and Beal is okay with it, then that would be the deal.
If you’re wondering why the Wizards would make a deal like that, keep in mind that Beal can reject any deal he wants. So if he demands a trade to Boston but then thinks the Celtics are giving up too much, he can reject the deal and tell Washington to start over with negotiations. Boston would have the leverage in that situation, but they also aren’t going to completely rob the Wizards blind. There has to be some value here to Washington, if for nothing else that these teams can work together again in the future.
So could Boston get him if they wanted him? Under certain circumstances, yes.
BUT…
Would they want him?
I can envision a universe where they make a throw-caution-to-the-wind deal giving them two years of pairing Jayson Tatum with his best friend and Brown. They’d have to believe that those three, the remaining guard, Robert Williams, Al Horford, and presumably a returning Grant Williams to fill out the roster will be enough to win a title.
If they believed that, then they’d spend for a couple of seasons hoping to cash in on that core and then break it up fairly quickly because of the harsh new CBA penalties.
If they're not convinced of that, then there's no reason to make that deal. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Boston isn’t interested, but that could just be posturing at this point. If the word was that they were, the Brown trade rumors would kick into gear and, again, that's not happening.
So could Boston get Beal? Sure, there's a way. Will they? I’m not convinced they will, even if they wanted to make a mad all-in dash ahead of the new CBA’s punishments. That road just doesn’t make a lot of sense considering what’s coming around the corner. I just don’t see Boston eating up 90% of their cap with three players a couple of years from now.
WHAT IF HE GOES SOMEWHERE ELSE?
Miami is looking like the frontrunner for Beal. There have already been reports that the Heat are going “star hunting” this summer and they have a lot of salary that a rebuilding team can deal with as it gets its affairs in order.
The Wizards can take back a lot of expiring salary in Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo. Miami’s picks might not be too bad considering Beal is 30 with a tough injury history and Jimmy Butler will be 34 to start next season (and not exactly a lock to play 82 games). Maybe Washington will think some of the picks in the near future will be pretty good even if there's a year or two where Miami gets a big bump.
Beal could see a partnership with Butler and Bam Adebayo as something that vaults him back into the playoffs in the short term while Florida’s lack of a state income tax adds some money to the value of his deal.
That makes Miami a bit more of a threat. Lowry and Oladipo are essentially dead weight and Butler would get someone who took the pressure off him during the regular season. Miami would certainly remain in the mix for home court in the playoffs with Beal, especially with Erik Spoelstra’s ability to make subpar defenders palatable on that end.
Wherever he goes, Beal will make the team more potent offensively. It seems like Eastern Conference teams like Philadelphia and New York are being discussed as possibilities. There's a good chance Beal helps throw another roadblock in front of Boston next season.
So while Boston has an outside chance of getting him, I don’t think they will unless this is his preferred destination and he forces the Wizards to take pennies on the dollar for him. I think a rebuilding move with Miami makes the most sense since they can get a bunch of clear-able salary and potentially good draft picks in return. And who knows, maybe they can flip someone like Lowry or Oladipo at the deadline and pick up more picks. Miami can hope for another deep run with another big weapon, but it also gives teams someone to target when he’s on the floor, so we’ll have to wait and see how big an impact he has overall.