Bradley Beal Suns Trade: LeBron James Joining Luka Doncic & Kyrie Irving's Mavs Next?
Less than a week after the NBA Finals concluded, it didn't take long for the offseason to hit the ground running. On Sunday, according to multiple reports, the Washington Wizards are trading star shooting guard Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns, creating a Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Beal.
The trade return for the three-time All-Star? Chris Paul, who is 38 years old, Landry Shamet and an unspecified number of second-round picks. That may not seem like much, and it isn't, but that's what the Wizards were forced to accept considering that Beal held the league's only no-trade clause. It's also worth mentioning that Beal's agent, Mark Bartelstein, is the father of Suns' CEO Josh Bartelstein. In what will be breaking news to no one, relationships matter in the NBA.
Now that Beal is a member of the Suns, one must wonder if this is just the first domino to fall in what could be a crazy summer for the association. With the NBA Draft set to commence on Thursday, and the Dallas Mavericks holding the No. 10 pick while being a part of several trade rumors, there's a good chance there will be some action happening on GM Nico Harrison's phone this week.
Out of all the scenarios the Mavs have been mentioned in, including a trade-down deal with the Atlanta Hawks featuring either John Collins or Clint Capela, could Dallas shake the NBA landscape yet again by pulling off a trade for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James?
James doesn't have a no-trade clause like Beal did, but he could become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, and as we've seen throughout the course of his career, he usually gets what he wants. Although many roll their eyes at this being a possibility due to the Mavs' lack of assets being worthy of trading for James, who is still putting up prime-like numbers at 38 years old, we believe this has a shot at happening based on a simple reading of the tea leaves:
1) Mavs star point guard, Kyrie Irving, who is expected to re-sign in Dallas with a long-term contract when free agency begins, has attempted to recruit James. The two have stayed close since their Cleveland Cavaliers days, where they won a title together in 2016.
2) James is on record saying that Luka Doncic is his favorite player in the league, and there was speculation about James potentially joining the Mavs to end his career even before Irving made his way to Dallas via trade.
"[LeBron] talked about how much he admires Luka Doncic. And that is something you should put in your back pocket,” Windhorst said on ESPN's "Get Up" last summer.
“Don't ever judge LeBron 100 percent on his words. Judge him on his actions. The best way you can see how LeBron feels about people is who he drafts in his All-Star draft. ... He's drafted Luka Doncic all three years he's been an All-Star."
3) James loves and supports Mavs head coach Jason Kidd, who was an assistant coach on the Lakers when they won the 2020 championship. He also credits Kidd for instilling patience into his game.
“Not only has he been my coach, he has been my teammate, as well. Olympics. I’ve known J-Kidd for quite a while. I went against him as well as a player and in the postseason as well, early days in Cleveland. He was in New Jersey at the time, but I’ve never been great at this," James said after the Mavs defeated the Lakers in a double-overtime thriller on Jan. 12.
“But he’s always tried to preach to me about patience. Some of the most calm, collective guys that I have ever been around, never gets too high, never gets too low, and always has a great calming voice about the positive side of things. I haven’t been great at that. But I definitely listen to him. I just it’s hard to apply sometimes. But he’s definitely taught me a lot. I take that friendship and that brotherhood that we have that we’ve built over 20 years with a lot of gratitude.”
Although the Lakers made it to the Western Conference Finals this year while the Mavs missed the postseason outright, one could argue that L.A.'s current roster has already peaked. By the numbers, the offensive duo of Doncic and Irving was devastating for opponents, it was just overall team depth and defense that kept the Mavs from getting over the hump. Dallas played a league-high 55 clutch games during the 2022-23 season, but had just a 26-29 record in those games.
That tells us the Mavs could be closer to getting things back on track than what the initial disappointment of them missing the play-in tournament indicated. If James wants to join Irving and Doncic in Dallas, then he'll find a way to do so, and with another super team forming in the Western Conference, he be thinking it's time to do that himself in a new setting.
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