ESPN analyst floats ill-advised Warriors-Bradley Beal trade rumor
ESPN’s Jay Williams thinks that one of the biggest, or at least one of the most expensive, names on the NBA trade market could be a good fit for the Golden State Warriors, but whether a move could actually work is a huge question mark.
Williams’ co-worker and NBA scoopster Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday that Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards were closely working together on trade scenarios for the soon-to-be 30-year-old guard. Speaking on “Keyshawn, JWill & Max,” Williams called the Warriors “the best landing spot in the league” for Beal.
His initial reasoning had to do with chemistry, in the aftermath of Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole. Williams specifically mentioned a moment in Game 6 of the Dubs-Kings series, when things looked off-kilter among Golden State's big names.
“Jordan was coming off the court, Dray was trying to tell him, ‘Yo, keep your head up, it’s OK.’ Jordan was like, ‘Get your hand off me,’ and walked to the end of the bench,” Williams recounted. “Steph walked by Dray, walked over to Jordan, scolded Jordan Poole, and then came back and dapped up Draymond Green.”
Presumably, Beal’s addition to Golden State stops this kind of stuff from occurring. Poole’s subtraction would help even more.
But then Williams suggested something that flies in the face of his chemistry argument: trading away Klay Thompson, one of the core three members of the Warriors’ dynasty. This, he explained, is more about “trying to extend the runway for Steph's legacy.”
“Now I don't want to give up that much,” Williams said. “I've heard people throwing, potentially, Klay Thompson as well with maybe a [Jonathan] Kuminga and a Jordan Poole. If you're not sure ... you want to pay [Klay] the supermax moving forward after the last year of his deal, is there a way to make a move for a Bradley Beal with Steph, with Andrew Wiggins, potentially with a guy like Dray?"
Forget about whether Curry’s legacy is worth that trade; it’s not even clear whether Beal alone is worth that much. He’s about to be on the wrong side of 30, only played more than 60 games once in the past five seasons, and is an awful defender. Any Wizards fan who's paid even the smallest bit of attention to the team knows that Beal is a big name who's done very little to justify his status and contract. They’re also surely salivating at the thought of giving up an albatross contract for this haul, especially since all signs point to a full tear-down in Washington, which Thompson, Poole and Kuminga would make a lot easier.
Beal is a good player who can absolutely be great, but if Williams’ trade idea is what it will cost to bring Beal to the Bay Area, then the Dubs would be wise to look somewhere else to maximize Curry’s championship prime.
Source: SFGATE
