Getty Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal
The trade offers for a few of the Washington Wizards’ key pieces are beginning to roll in it seems. While nothing concrete has been sent out for either All-Star guard John Wall or Bradley Beal, a new team has emerged in a push for the latter. The Charlotte Hornets have reportedly inquired about Beal, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer revealed.
While there’s been no concrete offer made public yet for Beal from the Hornets side, there have been rumblings on how they may look. As one Hornets analyst cited, the team is reportedly willing to include a draft pick with either Marvin Williams or Nicolas Batum as salary filler.
Beyond that, Percy speculates that some mixture of Malik Monk, Miles Bridges, Jeremy Lamb, and a first-round pick could come into play. There has been no word that this is the offer, but it’s likely it would take at least this much to land Beal via trade.
I’d be shocked if #Hornets were able to get off of Batum’s contract, but Marvin Williams + Monk/Miles + Lamb’s expiring + ’19 1st-round pick makes some sense. Would be a risk for Charlotte, but probably one worth taking. Again, urgency to maximize roster around Kemba now is real.
It’s very early in the process, but based on rumblings, the Hornets seem prepared to try to take the next step forward. They’ve been largely carried by the superb play of Kemba Walker to this point in the season, and adding a scorer like Beal could go a long way towards their immediate success.
Kemba Walker’s Superb Start to Season
The Hornets 28-year-old star has been red-hot thus far in the 2018-19 season, averaging 29.6 points per game, 6.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. The fact he’s posted these scoring numbers while shooting 46.5 percent from the field on 21.6 attempts per game is arguably the most eye-opening stat of all.
Walker has scored 103 combined points in the Hornets’ last two games – a narrow loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and victory over the Boston Celtics. His first game against the Sixers featured 60 points on 21-34 shooting (61.8 percent) with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
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