Trade No. 2

Golden State Warriors Receive: G Bradley Beal

Washington Wizards Receive: F Andrew Wiggins, MIN 2021 1st Round Pick (via GSW), GSW 2022 1st Round Pick, GSW 2025 1st Round Pick, GSW 2027 1st Round Pick

Over the last decade, the Golden State Warriors have found a lot of success drafting a developing talent. I mean, just look at some of the banners hanging in the rafters in San Francisco. Sure, they had Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala, but besides those two guys, the rest of the core for the Warriors was built through the draft and those championships were won because of the job Golden State’s front-office did drafting and developing talent. 

As a result, they may be hesitant to trade away four first-round picks, but given how gifted of a player Bradley Beal is, this may be the most enticing offer Golden State can send to the Wizards. Plenty of teams are going to try and execute a trade for Bradley Beal before this season’s NBA trade deadline, so if the Warriors truly want him, they will have to give the Wizards everything they have. 

Swapping Wiggin for Beal definitely is an upgrade for the Warriors on the offensive-end of the court, but definitely a downgrade defensively. At full strength with Klay Thompson healthy, this Warriors team would be really small outside of James Wiseman at center. 

Offensively, they would be almost impossible to stop, but their games would all of a sudden turn into a marathon of scoring. Golden State would have virtually no defense, much like we are seeing with the Nets this year with their superstar trio. 

It is yet to be seen if Brooklyn’s experiment can result in a championship, but all-in-all, this trade package may be too much for the Warriors to give up. Bradley Beal is fantastic and is one of the most gifted scorers of this generation, but giving up four first-round picks for him will negatively affect the Warriors’ future for many years to come, especially since they are already paying millions of dollars in taxes this season to have the team that they do.