OKC Thunder: Bradley Beal Says Thunder Almost Traded for Him in 2012

Following an incredible run to the NBA Finals in 2012, the Oklahoma City Thunder had decisions to make. They could only pay one of James Harden or Serge Ibaka, and Thunder general manager Sam Presti had to make the decision he felt was best for the team long-term.

Looking back, there’s plenty of what-ifs surrounding the trade. Harden was sent to the Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two future first-round picks and one second-round pick. Of the picks came Steven Adams, Alex Abrines and Mitch McGary.

Most of the what-ifs coming from the trade are purely based around the subject of Harden staying, the Thunder paying a hefty luxury tax bill and a potential dynasty at hand. However, the what-ifs rarely include different trade packages the Thunder could have gotten.

Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal says that the Thunder nearly made a draft day trade to acquire the third overall pick in the same draft, and that pick would have been Beal.

“The deal was to trade James [Harden] to Washington, OKC gets the third pick… gets me,” Beal said on the All the Smoke Podcast.

This hypothetical is fun, because the Thunder could have gotten much more value out of the trade. The team would have been ahead of its time by giving the Thunder multiple needs in one player.

Beal would have provided spacing for Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, while alleviating the attention in terms of adding a third player that can handle the ball and generate baskets. The three could have played well off each other offensively, and the Thunder would have been able to have their third star again for a cheaper price.

So far in his 11-year career, Beal has spent the entirety of his career with the Wizards, though that could change in this upcoming offseason. He’s averaged 22.1 points per game across his entire career, and has averaged 30+ points per game two times in his career.

Funnily enough, his highest scoring season, 31.3 points per game, came alongside Westbrook, who he could have been teammates with at Oklahoma City had the potential trade went down.

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