Having already made a big splash by trading for veteran star Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat have been rumored as possible candidates to acquire Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal.
However, one new report indicates that this effort will be difficult since the rebuilding Wizards are reportedly not inclined to deal away the veteran.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst discussed possible buyout and trade candidates and indicated that despite multiple teams looking at Beal in the latter category, he doesn’t appear to be on the market:
“One name on everyone’s lips in this regard is Bradley Beal as the Washington Wizards face a significant rebuild. But as of now, sources said, the Wizards are resisting such inquiries.”
Beal, who turned 26 last week, is a guard who’s played seven NBA seasons, all of them in a Wizards uniform. During the 2018-19 campaign, he averaged 25.6 points, 5.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. These are impressive numbers that would ordinarily require a good deal of compensation from the Heat.
One possibility to reduce the number of assets that the Heat would have to part ways with is possibly acquiring point guard John Wall and his albatross contract along with Beal. Simply getting Wall’s four-year, $171 million contract off the books could convince the Wizards to make a deal.
Of course, taking on Wall’s contract would be a significant financial risk for Miami, especially because he is still recovering from a serious Achilles injury.
Finding a way to convince the Wizards to change their apparent attitude is something that the Heat will have to work on going forward in order to bring Beal to Miami.
Doing that would give the Heat one of the best backcourts in the NBA.