WASHINGTON — The Washington Wizards’ new front-office leaders knew the team they inherited had no legitimate pathway toward contending if Bradley Beal remained on their roster. Beal knew it too.
It’s time to rebuild.
For the franchise, that realization came four years too late.
The Wizards could have traded Beal in 2019, after John Wall ruptured his Achilles tendon and it became clear that the most pivotal half of one of the league’s best backcourt duos would never be the same. If Washington had traded Beal at that moment, after his second All-Star season, or in 2020, the organization could have received enough young players and draft capital to reset its roster. It would have been a difficult decision that may have been criticized at the time, but it would have been the right decision for the long term.
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On Sunday, new Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger made what he considered the best move in a challenging situation, agreeing to trade the 29-year-old shooting guard to the Phoenix Suns for a return that can be described as underwhelming. Hampered by another mistake that occurred before his arrival — the inclusion of a no-trade clause in the five-year, $251 million contract that Beal and the Wizards agreed to last summer — Winger discovered he had almost no leverage in trade talks. Beal controlled his destination far more than the Wizards did.
Although the trade is not yet finalized, the Suns agreed to trade 38-year-old Chris Paul, 26-year-old shooting guard Landry Shamet and multiple second-round picks. The Wizards also will receive the ability to swap some first-round picks.
Wizards officials will work with the Suns to include a third team in the trade if, as expected, Paul decides he wants to join a contending team instead of the Wizards, The Athletic learned from a league source who was granted anonymity because he did not have authorization to discuss a trade that had not been finalized. Routing Paul to a third team might net Washington at least one valuable draft pick and player.
Jordan Goodwin, a 24-year-old guard from St. Louis whom Beal has mentored over the years, has been informed by Wizards officials that he likely will be included in the trade with the Suns, two league sources told The Athletic. Goodwin, one of the Wizards’ best player-development successes in recent years, would give the Suns depth. He is a gritty player with an outstanding feel for the game and — in something crucial for Phoenix’s top-heavy cap sheet — a relatively inexpensive contract.
The Wizards will gain long-term cap flexibility once Beal’s albatross contract is removed from their books. The contracts for Paul and Shamet are fully non-guaranteed for the 2024-25 season; as long as the Wizards waive them before late June 2024, none of Paul’s $30 million salary and Shamet’s $11 million salary for the 2024-25 season would count against the Wizards’ cap figure. Beal, on the other hand, is due to receive a total of $161 million over the 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.
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With that cap flexibility, Washington can take on contracts in trades more easily and, as the price for accepting those contracts, receive future picks.
Winger and Dawkins can now bottom out in the standings if they choose to do so. Kyle Kuzma intends to test unrestricted free agency this summer. Kristaps Porziņģis can either become an unrestricted free agent this summer or exercise his $36 million player option for the upcoming season.
The Wizards own the eighth, 42nd and 57th picks in Thursday’s NBA Draft, and they almost certainly will attempt to move up in the draft.
Washington now has a clear direction. It appears Winger, GM Will Dawkins and senior vice president of player personnel Travis Schlenk will attempt to build from the ground up. Gone are the days of battling for a postseason berth as a precursor for a game-changing move to add a star alongside Beal.
Beal exits the franchise as its second-leading career scorer, just 160 points behind Elvin Hayes.
Wall and Beal led the Wizards to the second round of the playoffs three times, most recently at the end of the 2016-17 season. Devastating injuries for Wall soon followed, and in hindsight, the franchise’s hopes of building a contender around Wall and Beal evaporated too.
In the last several years, Beal grew increasingly frustrated with the team’s long-term prospects. A trade before the 2021-22 season’s trade deadline was possible until he suffered a season-ending ligament tear in his left wrist in late January.
If Beal had not gotten hurt and had been traded then, former team president and general manager Tommy Sheppard might still have a job.
The next mistake occurred last July, when the team re-signed Beal and agreed to include a no-trade clause in Beal’s new contract. Sheppard often receives the blame for that move, but the team’s principal owner, Ted Leonsis, at the very least signed off on the deal.
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Last July, Leonsis pushed back on the criticism that the no-trade clause would be a detriment to the franchise.
“I didn’t take it as a point of leverage,” Leonsis said. “I took it more as a point of partnership, and all we can do is show you that we’re in this together.”
On Sunday, that partnership ended, and the no-trade clause significantly limited the return that Washington received.
In recent years, other franchises jump-started rebuilds by making unexpected trades. In 2019, the Oklahoma City Thunder dealt Paul George to the LA Clippers and received Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, a trove of picks and pick swaps. In 2021, the Orlando Magic traded Nikola Vučević and Al-Farouq Aminu to the Chicago Bulls for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and two first-round picks. Last summer, the Utah Jazz traded Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for several players and a bunch of first-round picks.
The Wizards’ Beal trade started a new era for the franchise, that’s true. But the trade doesn’t provide much of a head start on that rebuild.
Related reading
Harper: Grading the Wizards-Suns trade
Aldridge: Wizards pay the piper in terrible but necessary deal
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(Top photo of Bradley Beal and P.J. Tucker: Brad Mills / USA Today)
