Should the Warriors trade for Washington Wizards star guard Bradley Beal?
According to The Ringer's Jonathan Tjarks, the answer unequivocally is ...
... absolutely.
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"Golden State has to live in the moment," Tjarks writes. "Its top priority should be keeping [Steph] Curry happy, and he can’t be happy to see his team planning for a future without him while his peers assemble superteams. His team has the chips to create the NBA’s next powerhouse, and those chips will never be as valuable as they are right now. Beal isn’t on the market yet. But he will be soon. It’s time for Golden State to go all in."
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Tjarks went over several different trade packages that possibly could get a deal done between the two teams. All of them are built around James Wiseman and the very valuable 2021 first round pick (top-three protected) the Warriors own via the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Golden State Warriors
One scenario includes shipping Andrew Wiggins to the Wizards.
"This deal would net Washington a haul of draft assets," Tjarks writes. "The Wizards could demand a lot to take him off Golden State’s books since he has little value to a rebuilding team."
So the Warriors would send Wiggins, Wiseman, the Minny pick and additional future first-rounders and/or pick swaps in exchange for Beal? That seems like an awful lot for Golden State to give up.
Wiseman had the best game of his career Wednesday night vs. the Timberwolves, racking up 25 points (9-for-14 from the field, 3-for-3 on 3s), six rebounds and two blocks. He also was terrific on the defensive end.
But Tjarks' point is that the 19-year-old doesn't fully line up with Golden State's current championship window.
"Wiseman, for all his potential, doesn’t really fit with Curry and [Draymond] Green. It took him less than a month to lose his spot in the starting lineup," he writes. "There are issues on both sides of the ball. Like all young big men, he’s still learning how to play defense at the NBA level. That learning curve can take years."
But what if he takes big strides this season, and is ready to be a formidable presence consistently next season when Klay Thompson returns and the Warriors theoretically are legitimate title contenders again?
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As for Wiggins, he is playing the best two-way basketball of his career, and parting ways with him would leave a big void in terms of the Warriors' ability to guard the elite wings in the NBA.
Lastly, Beal is having an incredible season so far -- 35.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game, while shooting 48 percent overall and nearly 37 percent from beyond the arc (on 7.2 attempts). The two-time NBA All-Star just is 27 years old and is under contract through the 2021-22 season (he has a $37.3 million player option in 2022-23 that assuredly will be declined). Beal absolutely would thrive on the Warriors. There's no denying that.
Let's put a bookmark in this conversation for now, and revisit it as the March 25 trade deadline gets closer.