3. Traded Bradley Beal
Traded Bradley Beal, Jordan Goodwin, and Isaiah Todd to Phoenix Suns for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, four first-round pick swaps and six second-round picks.
The blockbuster deal of the offseason kicked things off for the Washington Wizards and signaled a change was truly coming to the nation’s capital. Yet, similarly to the Porzingis deal, the trade has to be evaluated in light of Bradley Beal‘s no-trade clause, which added on top of his maximum contract made dealing him for valuable a difficult proposition.
Perhaps the Wizards could have been patient, waiting to see if another team caught Beal’s interest and working out a deal for higher compensation. Yet Beal would always have veto power over a trade, and wanting to win in his new destination would likely have pressed the red button if the Wizards ever extracted a worthy offer from another team.
The mistakes of the no-trade clause and the mammoth extension were not Winger’s doing nor in the purview of this report card, and in the context of this summer the Wizards did well to move Beal for this package. Chris Paul was immediately flipped (more on that in a moment), Landry Shamet could be valuable to a contender as a movement shooter by the deadline, and the Wizards bought themselves a lot of bites at the apple with six second-round picks and four pick swaps.
Perhaps in four seasons, the Wizards are in the playoff mix and the Suns are stumbling back into the lottery after Kevin Durant’s retirement or departure. That’s the upside swing the Wizards are playing with here, and it’s a decent bet that they’ll somehow take advantage of holding those swaps. It was no home-run coup, but it was a decent deal and helped set them fully on the path to rebuilding.
Grade: B+