Should the San Antonio Spurs trade for Bradley Beal?

Bradley Beal is reportedly on the trading block. Should the San Antonio Spurs try to acquire the Wizards’ disgruntled All-Star guard?

The San Antonio Spurs have suffered a multitude of injuries at the guard and wing positions this season, which is one of the reasons for their recent struggles.

While the return of Lonnie Walker should provide a jumpstart to this squad, the Spurs could still use an infusion of talent at that position.

The Washington Wizards have totally imploded this season both on and off the court, and they may be willing to trade away a couple of guards that could help the Spurs immediately.

I broke down a potential John Wall trade yesterday and will continue the trade speculation by looking at the possibilities of a Bradley Beal trade in the following slides.

How well would Beal fit with the current iteration of the Spurs, and does San Antonio have the necessary assets to get a deal done?

I try to answer those questions here:

Next: Bradley Beal's fit with the Spurs

Bradley Beal’s fit with the Spurs

I don’t know if there is a team in the league that would be a bad fit for Bradley Beal.

Beal has been a knockdown three-point shooter for his entire career (39%), and he’s developed as a distributor on the offensive end as well dishing 4.5 assists per game last season.

Beal has played in the same backcourt as John Wall for most of his time with the Wizards, so he doesn’t need the ball in his hands all of the time to be effective.

He’s a fantastic catch-and-shoot player who is capable of playing off the ball as well as carrying the offensive load as a playmaker.

I think Beal and DeMar DeRozan could work well together in the same backcourt.

DeRozan would probably handle the ball more than Beal because DeMar is not a great catch-and-shoot guard, but Beal would be capable of playing the point guard role as well when DeRozan needs a break from facilitating the offense.

Both players have experience playing alongside more ball-dominant point guards, and I think Gregg Popovich would be able to use them well in the Spurs’ offense.

Next: Spurs trade assets

Spurs trade assets

The biggest question mark in a potential Bradley Beal trade is whether the Spurs have any assets that the Wizards would want.

Washington looks like they are ready to rebuild and they would probably ask for promising young players and draft picks in exchange for trading away an All-Star talent like Beal.

San Antonio does have two first round picks in the upcoming draft after acquiring the Raptors’ first round selection in the Kawhi Leonard trade. I don’t think either of the Spurs’ picks will be lottery selections as long as San Antonio can make the playoffs, but that is honestly an iffy proposition after their recent losing streak.

The Spurs probably can’t package an injured Dejounte Murray in a deal, but they do have a couple young players that could be appealing to Washington in Lonnie Walker, Chimezie Metu, Jakob Poeltl, and Derrick White.

If San Antonio sent both of those first round picks along with Lonnie Walker and another player from that Metu-Poeltl-White group, I think they could get the Wizards to pick up the phone.

Next: Conclusion

Conclusion

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Although the Spurs don’t typically make in-season trades, I think they would make an exception if Washington was willing to send an All-Star guard in the prime of his career to San Antonio.

Adding Beal to this roster would give the Spurs a new big three and instantly make them contenders again in a difficult Western Conference.

At first glance, San Antonio doesn’t have a ton of assets to send out in a trade. However, not many NBA teams have two first round picks in a 2019 draft that should be stacked with talented prospects, and the Spurs do have a couple of young players that could pique the Wizards’ interest.

The Spurs’ roster is built to win right now, which may mean the front office is willing to send many of their promising youngsters away in order to acquire a player with Beal’s talent.

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It seems like a longshot, but the Wizards have shown that they want to get their rebuild started immediately, and they may be willing to pull the trigger on a below-market deal to jumpstart that process.

The Spurs should be making plenty of phone calls to Washington even if they might not have the firepower to ultimately get a deal done.