Celtics Could Miss Out on Potential $240 Million Target in Blockbuster Trade: Analyst

Jayson Tatum, Bradley Beal, Boston Celtics

Getty Jayson Tatum, Bradley Beal, Boston Celtics

It’s only natural to always have your eyes on the next best thing, and for Boston Celtics fans, their eyes have been firmly on Bradley Beal for some time now.

The notion of an All-NBA scoring talent to pair with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown is too much of a draw to turn down. So, when Brad Stevens began prioritizing financial flexibility during this past off-season, fans began to dream about a potential sign-and-trade for the Washington Wizards’ star.

However, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Miami Heat are becoming a primary destination for Beal to eventually end up, should he choose to leave the Wizards in the off-season.

“The Heat are seen as a legitimate suitor for Beal should he elect to seek a new home, multiple sources said,” Charania wrote.

Of course, the Heat wouldn’t be the only team interested in adding Beal to their ranks, but a lot of this comes down to where the star wants to play for the next three or four years. As with most elite-level talents, Beal holds most of the cards here.


Beal’s Contract Situation Makes Things Difficult

Similar to the Celtics, the Heat won’t have the cap space to sign Beal outright. As such, we can expect any potential acquisition of the St. Louis native to be courtesy of a sign-and-trade with the Wizards, which will only come to fruition if Beal opts out of his contract and makes it clear he won’t be re-signing in Washington.

If that scenario came to play, it’s safe to assume the Celtics would be making inquiries too. But, as Charania pointed out, the Heat have a bevy of young talent on long-term deals that they could throw into any trade, which would be appealing for a Wizards team that would be entering a rebuild.

“The Heat have a veteran, championship-ready core in Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, Victor Oladipo, and P.J. Tucker, as well as talented young players in Tyler Herro, Max Strus, and Caleb Martin.

Miami would need to complete a sign-and-trade to acquire Beal. Overall, teams will continue to keep an eye on the Heat as a legitimate threat to add talent in the years to come,” Charania wrote.

According to Spotrac, Beal has a player option for next season worth $36.4 million. If any team is looking to acquire the 28-year-old via sign-and-trade, they will likely ask that he opts out and signs a new contract for multiple years, as they wouldn’t want to risk giving up assets for a player who could walk away for nothing the following summer.


Tatum is Boston’s Best Hope At Landing Beal

It’s common knowledge that Tatum and Beal are close friends. They grew up in the same city, frequented the same school, and came up playing basketball together. Tatum has often spoken of his friendship with Beal and has noted he would like to play with him at some point in his career.

“Yeah. We’ve talked about it plenty of times. I think, more so, just thinking about how cool it would be to play with him. Just how we grew up, and how close we are. It’s something I’ve always dreamed about. We didn’t get the opportunity with the USA team, but we did get to play with each other in the All-Star game last year, which was a special moment. Just, like playing in the NBA with your big brother, who wouldn’t want to do that?” Tatum told NBC Sport’s Boston’s Abby Chin in October 2021.

Unfortunately, if it came down to a bidding war between the Heat and Celtics, Miami has more talent to offer in a package. Young talent such as Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson would be incredibly enticing for the Wizards, and due to Robinson’s current contract, would make matching salaries easy. And that’s where the stalled development of Aaron Nesmith could hinder Boston in the near future, as the team has a plethora of mid-level contracts, but none with the upside of Herro or Robinson long-term.

It’s worth noting though, that Stevens essentially killed the Beal dream when he handed out extensions to Marcus Smart and Robert Williams earlier this year, and the acquisition of Derrick White at the trade deadline added the final nail to that coffin.

Even so, Miami with Jimmy Butler, Bradley Beal, Kyle Lowry, and Bam Adebayo – that’s a scary proposition, which might force Stevens into taking drastic action, but for now, only time will tell.

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