This season, it often seemed that Darius Garland and a few other players were the only players who could actually score on the roster for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and it definitely would have helped to have another shot-creator on the roster besides Garland. Collin Sexton was out pretty early on in the season, and no one else was really capable of making their own shot for much of the year, on the perimeter at least.
Bleacher Report believes that the Cavs could potentially trade for the Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal. Beal has made the All-Star game 3 times in his career, and the All-NBA Third Team last season for the 2020-21 8th-seeded Wizards team. However, Beal has been on a somewhat underwhelming roster, considering how good of a player he is.
The Wizards were 35-47 this season, and Beal only played around half of the games this season. The roster he is on is assembled with a few veterans (Kyle Kuzma, Kristaps Porzingis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope), but also some young players (Deni Avdija, Rui Hachimura, and the 10th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft).
To trade Beal makes sense, as they are currently stuck in mediocrity, not being good enough to make a solid playoff spot, but not bad enough to get a top 3 pick in the draft. If Beal is traded to Cleveland, he can finally compete in the playoffs, as the Cavaliers this season already proved that they are capable of being great next year, and in the future as well. The trade Bleacher Report suggested is as follows:
Let’s just assume that this trade is made, for the article’s sake. This trade is made, and we’ll assume that Sexton will accept the sign-and-trade to Washington, in this sense. Let’s also assume Bradley Beal accepts his player option for this upcoming season and is willing to sign an extension with the Cavs.
With all of these factors in play, I will grade the trade for both sides.
Washington Wizards – A-
For the Wizards, you finally rip the band-aid off and accept a rebuild. In my opinion, not trading Beal is just delaying the inevitable, all teams have to rebuild at some point, so why not get a jump-start on it? Washington is nowhere near championship-caliber, so trying to build around Deni Avdija and the two first-round picks (10 and 14) in this draft could definitely accelerate their rebuild. Washington would get the Cavaliers’ first for this year after the draft, for clarification.
For the first-round picks, you can get someone like Ousmane Dieng, TyTy Washington, Johnny Davis, Malaki Branham, or someone else. The options for this draft are vast and vary depending on who you ask, but two first-round picks in the lottery is definitely not a bad thing. Maybe you trade Porzingis down the line for more assets, or trading Kuzma to get a late first-rounder.
A rebuild for Washington may not be what the fans, players, or front office want, but it may be what is necessary to compete for a title in the future.
Cleveland Cavaliers – A
I think this a win-win for both sides, as you give up two first-round picks, Collin Sexton (who I did write an article about on why he should come off the bench), and Lauri Markkanen (freeing up wing playing time for Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Lamar Stevens, etc.). A solid trade, as the Cavs are just exiting their rebuilding phase and trying to build a roster to be able to compete for a title.
As I wrote earlier, the Cavs’ roster sometimes seemed subpar when it came to offense, as whenever Darius Garland hits the bench, Cleveland seems a bit lost on offense. Not giving up Isaac Okoro in this deal really helps, as the backcourt of Darius Garland and Bradley Beal won’t be able to defend that well, so having Okoro as the primary wing-stopper would really help, and they’d still have Wade/Stevens. And also having Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen down low to protect the paint would really help Cleveland’s defense, too.
Giving up the first-rounders does hurt a bit, but the first-round pick this year won’t get a lot of playing time off the bat, and the first-round pick in 2025 should not be too valuable. Losing Sexton also is not the best, but advanced stats don’t really like Sexton that much, especially on defense. Nothing against Sexton, but I really think he’d be better off as a 6th man, rather than a starter at the 2.
All in all, if I were either team, I would not be very hesitant to try to get a deal done surrounding Bradley Beal. Do I think this trade will happen? No, not really. Washington seems very intent about keeping Beal, and I think Beal likes Washington as well, so unless the Cavs offer a king’s ransom for Beal, I don’t think a trade will be able to be pulled off.
It’s an intriguing hypothetical, though.