Zach Lowe mentioned last week that the LA Clippers could be one team to try and trade for Bradley Beal. Gutting the team for him would be a terrible move.
In an offhanded comment from his article last week regarding the league moving towards a “Big Two” movement, Zach Lowe of ESPN mentioned that the LA Clippers could be one of several teams that could try and trade for Bradley Beal if he and the Washington Wizards don’t come to terms on an extension.
As Lowe mentions, the Clippers’ don’t exactly have extremely appealing assets for a Beal trade (they gave them all up in order to land Paul George) but could still put together a package that would at least fit salary wise.
The full Lowe quote:
"The Clippers don’t have the draft assets for such a trade, but I wonder how they would feel about a theoretical package of Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, Landry Shamet and Mfiondu Kabengele — leaving a thin and aging roster around Beal, Leonard and George."
Lowe hits the nail on the head right there though. “A thin and aging roster” does not seem like what this front office has strived for over the last couple of seasons.
Yes, they dumped all their draft picks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but it’s still pretty apparent that they want depth and feel like a team that added George and Leonard after making the postseason last year is already a real championship contender.
Beal would bring a lot of offense to the team, but look at the guys you are giving up. Beverley just put up 7.6 points and had his second best shooting season from deep (39.7%) while still being a premiere defender. Harrell was a Sixth Man of the Year finalist and still shows signs of improving. Shamet is a knockdown shooter whose game should age like a fine wine. Kabengele is an unknown commodity, yes, but he showed a whole lot of promise in Summer League.
Do you really think the Clippers give all of that up for just one player? No way. They couldn’t replicate a portion of the production that Bev, Trezz and Shamet give with Beal and a couple of ring chasing veterans who aren’t otherwise getting attention from teams.
The Lowe comment was just something offhanded that popped into his head while writing. I highly doubt the Clippers get involved in Beal trade talks – if they even occur. The front office is too smart to gut the whole thing.