Step Back Podcast: A Mavs Best Offer for Wizards Bradley Beal?
There has been a ton of speculation about Giannis Antetokounmpo's future with the Milwaukee Bucks after a second consecutive meltdown in the postseason, despite being the best regular-season team in the league over the last two years.
Will Antetokounmpo sign the Bucks' max extension offer this offseason? We know what he's recently said. ...
But ... just in case. If he doesn't, is one more guaranteed year of true title contention worth more to Milwaukee than any potential trade return they could get for him? Do the Dallas Mavericks have a legitimate shot at signing him if he makes it all the way to 2021 free agency?
READ MORE: Mavs Mailbag: If Bucks Trade Giannis, Should Dallas Offer KP?
All of these questions are answered in the first half of this week's Mavs Step Back Podcast.
In the second half of this episode, we switch gears and talk about the possibility of the Mavs making an NBA Draft night trade offer to the Washington Wizards for star shooting guard Bradley Beal.
DallasBasketball.com has been all over this particular scenario over the last few years, despite the Wizards' unwillingness to blow up a roster that is consistently mediocre year after year.
"Nuclear Winter,'' and all that.
Could this offseason finally be the one where the Wizards decide to move on? And if so, what would be the Mavs' most realistic trade offer for Beal around the NBA Draft in November?
We discuss all of this, including why Beal might have already considered his potential fit in Dallas next to Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.
Doncic only played in one game against Beal this past season, and that was the very first game of the season at American Airlines Center when the Mavs came away with a hard-fought 108-100 victory. Beal was eventually ejected late in that game for apparently being too physical with Doncic, getting two technicals when there was just a little over a minute remaining in the game.
However, there was no hard feelings between the two stars. In fact, Doncic and Beal greatly respect each other.
"That was great. That's what basketball is about," said Doncic of his battle with Beal. "You don't have no friends on the court. I respect him for doing that. Everybody's saying he's only a fancy player. No, he showed he's great on defense, too. He showed that there, so I respect it for him."
"It was just hoops," said Beal after the game. "You could see when I got kicked out, he came up and was the first one to dap me, so he understood what it was. We weren't fighting. It was just basketball, trying to frustrate him. He was kicking our butts, so you've got to do something."
(Note the difference between Luka's respect for Beal's physical style and the foolishness of the Clippers' Marcus Morris. Read below for Doncic's thoughts there - and our interpretation.)
READ MORE: Mavs Offseason: 'Tough Guy' Needed - But Luka Won't Vote For Morris
And interestingly enough, whether it was just a coincidence or not, after that game ended, a Mavericks fan tagged Beal in a tweet that said, "There's a place for you here," and Beal 'liked' that tweet.
So, take that however you wish, but at the very least, Beal has considered the possibility, and that's enough for us to consider the possibility as well.
As far as fit goes, Beal is exactly the type of player you'd want to pair next to Doncic as a back-court partner for the foreseeable future, given his abilities to score from anywhere on the court and also defend well on the perimeter. That back-court, combined with a healthy Porzingis, would make the Mavs a powerhouse.
The Wizards asking price for Beal won't be cheap, and the Mavs' best offer still might not be better than other teams' potential offers, but as we've learned over these last two years, sometimes timing is everything.
It's "a fireman's existence," as Mavs General Manager Donnie Nelson told us this past season, and hopefully the bell will ring on Beal in the next few months.
