Clippers' Bradley Beal Signing Makes Even Less Sense Now After the Max Strus Trade

The Los Angeles Clippers' decision to bring Bradley Beal back on a two-year, $13.2 million deal, including a player option in his second season, raised some eyebrows around the league. How does a 33-year-old, injury-prone player who played only six games a season ago get a raise and a multi-year contract from the same team?

Even if the Clippers had their reasons, they make even less sense now that they traded for Max Strus.

Bradley Beal Is Even More Redundant Now After the Max Strus Acquisition

There will be Clippers fans who will also criticize the Strus acquisition. He is 30 years old and missed most of last season while recovering from foot surgery to repair a Jones fracture.

The difference between Strus and Beal is that the former came back later in the season and played at a high level. He averaged 26.7 minutes per game in the playoffs and was one of the more important players for the Cavs in their Conference Finals run. Plus, Strus' three-and-D skillset is a better fit for this Clippers team than Beal's shot creation and shooting.

Of course, there is a scenario in which Beal and Strus can coexist together and make an impact. Strus can play small forward thanks to his ability to defend bigger players. But his best position is shooting guard. If the Clippers were going to trade for Strus and already had Keaton Wagler, Kobe Sanders, Gradey Dick, and Kris Dunn in the SG rotation, why did they feel the need to also sign Beal?

This suggests that the Beal signing was a done deal beforehand. The Clippers and the veteran shooting guard must have had a mutual understanding well before the Clippers had to pivot and trade Leonard. Otherwise, it makes no sense that they would be willing to pay Beal $6.5 million next season when they just drafted Wagler and traded for Strus.

This potentially augurs more moves. The Clippers now have 17 players under contract, assuming the Kawhi Leonard trade goes through. Cam Christie, because of his non-guaranteed contract, is the most likely departure candidate. But the Clippers have to move on from one more player. Perhaps this will be Dick or Dunn, just to open up more playing time for all the other guards on the roster.

If the Clippers have to part ways with an intriguing young player like Dick just because they felt like they had to re-sign Beal, that would be disappointing. As solid a pickup as the Strus trade was, it almost gets overshadowed by the confusing Beal decision. So, perhaps it's best to wait until the Clippers are finished with all of their offseason moves before we can make a full judgment.

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