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Celtics Legend Says Boston Should Trade for Bradley Beal
The Celtics are at a fork in the road. What direction they take will have massive implications on their championship pursuits.
This author's long advocated for Boston paying Jaylen Brown a five-year, $295 million veteran supermax extension. Even with Jayson Tatum a summer away from being eligible for a five-year, $318 million supermax extension and the restrictive nature of living over the second apron of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement.
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Brown's extension won't take effect until the 2024-25 season, and Tatum's won't until 2025-26, so the franchise has two years to keep most of its rotation intact and see if their star tandem can lead them to a title.
Maybe it works, and trying to build around Tatum and Brown's accounting for roughly 70 percent of the team's salary cap is a prospect they pivot from. Perhaps their All-NBA duo doesn't reach the top of the summit in the next two years. But at the moment, it's challenging to find a return for the Georgia native that isn't a downgrade in talent.
Historically, the best players in the Association typically don't win until they're 27. The Celtics' best player is 25, and their other All-Star wing is 26.
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Boston needs to figure out how to get more from the two playing together. But it's worth seeing if the newest members of Joe Mazzulla's staff, Sam Cassell and Charles Lee, two of the league's top assistant coaches, can help accomplish that as Tatum and Brown enter their primes.
Furthermore, at his end-of-season press conference, Celtics' president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, seemed sincere in expressing his belief "small tweaks" are the best path forward.
A shrewd poker player, perhaps he wasn't tipping his hand after all. Maybe he's changed his stance or is less convinced of that now than he was a few days after Boston's Game 7 loss to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And if Stevens and the organization's top decision-makers decide to part ways with Brown, they could pursue one of Tatum's closest friends and a fellow St. Louis native, Bradley Beal.
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ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday that after 11 years in the nation's capital, he and the Wizards are working closely regarding a potential trade.
Kendrick Perkins, a colleague of Wojnarowski's at the World Wide Leader and a member of the Celtics' 2008 championship team, says the organization should work to get a deal done for the three-time All-Star.
While teams like the Heat and Sixers will be in the mix for the former Florida Gator's services, the prospect of teaming with Tatum and competing for championships is enticing. It would be shocking if Beal, the only player in the NBA with a no-trade clause in his contract, is unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to come to Boston.
But is it a move worth making?
The former All-NBA member is one season into a five-year, $251 million contract, making it financially unfeasible to form a new big three with Tatum, Brown, and Beal. The latter's also about to turn 30 and has a lengthy injury history.
Performance-wise, while his scoring's dropped from averaging a career-high 31.3 points in 2020-21, he's still effective at creating shots off the dribble. He's produced 23.2 points per contest in the last two campaigns, but he's done so with defenses keying on him as he shoulders much of the offensive burden.
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He's also a skilled and underrated facilitator. Despite playing alongside mediocre supporting casts, he dished out a career-high 6.6 assists in 2021-22 and 5.4 last season.
He's not a good defender, but he has a six-foot-eight wingspan, and perhaps carrying less of the scoring load and playing on a title contender alongside Tatum leads to improvement.
While this author would rather have the younger player who's proven more durable and is better at both ends, especially when factoring in their contracts and the lack of financial relief, if the Celtics decide they're trading Brown, acquiring Beal makes as much sense as anyone.
Lastly, for anyone thinking perhaps Boston can net a different return for the former and still trade for the latter, the Celtics don't have an enticing enough alternative offer to top what other suitors will put on the table, including Miami likely being willing to part with Tyler Herro to add Beal to a team that went to the Finals without the former Kentucky Wildcat.
Further Reading
Rick Barry Says Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Suffer From “Westbrook Syndrome”
Rick Barry Discusses Nearly Joining Celtics, Shares His Perspective on Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson
Scouting Report on Prospects Celtics Could Draft with No. 35 Pick: Julian Strawther
Scouting Report on Prospects Celtics Could Draft with No. 35 Pick: Jordan Walsh
Scouting Report on Prospects Celtics Could Draft with No. 35 Pick: Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Scouting Report on Prospects Celtics Could Draft with No. 35 Pick: Brandin Podziemski
Scouting Report on Prospects Celtics Could Draft with No. 35 Pick: Ben Sheppard
Celtics Add Another One of NBA's Top Assistants, Charles Lee, to Fortified Coaching Staff
The Latest Trade Buzz Surrounding Celtics' Guard Payton Pritchard
Suns Waiving Chris Paul; Should the Celtics Sign Him?
If Celtics Trade Malcolm Brogdon, Here's a Realistic Return Who'd Be a Better Fit
Are the Celtics Small Tweaks from a Title? Brad Stevens Thinks So
