The Los Angeles Clippers lost Paul George to NBA free agency, so they could certainly use another scorer to fill that void. That’s why Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz has the Clippers acquiring Bradley Beal from the Phoenix Suns in a wild four-team trade proposal.
The trade also involves the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs, and in the deal, Los Angeles would be parting with Norman Powell, Terance Mann, P.J. Tucker, Bones Hyland and Amir Coffey.
The Clippers would not only land Beal, but they would also receive an unprotected 2031 first-round draft pick from the Suns as well as a couple of second-rounders.
Beal would obviously be a major get for a Los Angeles squad that is teetering on the brink of irrelevancy in the loaded Western Conference.
Yes, the Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, but Leonard is rarely healthy these days, and Harden is clearly on the decline.
NBA RUMORS & NEWS: Los Angeles Clippers Updates
Bringing in Beal would guard against injury to Leonard (somewhat) while also taking significant pressure off of Harden as a scorer.
The Beal experiment didn’t exactly work out in Phoenix last season. Beal played well individually, averaging 18.2 points per game on 51.3/43.0/81.3 shooting splits, but the trio of Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker managed just 49 wins and a first-round playoff exit.
Can the Los Angeles Clippers contend in the West next season?
Obviously, the Clippers’ ceiling depends almost exclusively on the health of Leonard.
When he is right, Leonard remains one of the best players in basketball. In 68 games during the 2023-24 campaign, he registered 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals over 34.3 minutes a night while shooting 52.5 percent from the floor, 41.7 percent from three-point range and 88.5 percent from the free-throw line. However, he got injured in the playoffs once agian.
The West features a couple of budding championship contenders in the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Dallas Mavericks just got to the finals.
Plus, the Denver Nuggets aren’t going away, and the Memphis Grizzlies should be pretty scary now that they have gotten healthy.
As you can see, Los Angeles has a lot to contend with, and unless Leonard can play a full season and postseason, the Clippers won’t be going very far.
NBA RUMORS & NEWS: Los Angeles Clippers Updates
Adding Beal into the mix would certainly help, and if LA can acquire Bradley Beal while also keeping Leonard on the floor, then it may have something.
We’ll see if the Los Angeles Clippers make any adjustments heading into the season.
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