The Los Angeles Clippers figure to be a major player in the trade and free-agency market this offseason. With the guidance of front-office sage Jerry West, the Clips look poised to compete with other teams, including their intra-city rivals, the Lakers, for several high-profile names. And while everyone is going gaga about the potential trade availability of San Antonio Spurs’ star Kawhi Leonard, another blooming star just becomes the latest poster boy of trade rumors.

Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal is having one of the roughest weeks in his basketball career.

The All-Star shooting guard is coming off an uninspiring 3-of-11, nine-point performance in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference first-round series against the Toronto Raptors. Beal’s awful shooting night along with the Wiz’s inability to stop the impending sweep at the hands of the Raps casts a cloud of doubt on his coexistence with fellow All-Star guard John Wall.

Clips' possible trade proposal for Beal

According to veteran NBA insider Brian Windhorst in a podcast on The Hoop Collective, the star-searching Clippers appear to be an ideal trade partner for the Wizards if they attempt to break up their current backcourt.

Windhorst mentioned the two lottery picks (the Pistons 2018 first-rounder they acquired in the Blake Griffin trade and their own 2018 first-round pick) as the centerpiece of their trade package for Beal.

HoopsHype scribe Bryan Kalbrosky believes the Clippers, aside from the draft picks, may also include the contracts of Danilo Gallinari ($21 million next year) or Tobias Harris ($14 million next year) to match salaries. Beal is pocketing roughly $23 million in the second year of the five-year, $127 million contract extension.

Landing Beal would bode well for the Clippers as they try to lock up incoming free agent DeAndre Jordan for more seasons.

On the downside, absorbing Beal’s contract would mean the end of Avery Bradley’s tenure with the Clips.

Will John Wall intrigue Magic?

Although the general assumption is the Wizards would prefer moving Bradley rather than Wall, there’s a good chance the All-Star point guard turns out to be the one asking for a trade.

Wall badly craves playing for a winning team that puts him in position to bag championships and enhances his reputation as one of the best floor generals in the league. The Wizards won’t have much flexibility over the next three years after giving Wall, Beal, and Otto Porter massive contract extensions in successive years.

Despite his shallow offensive repertoire, Lonzo Ball looks like a pretty special player.

His court vision and ability to control pace is on par with the very best. Then again, he’s not John Wall, the MVP-caliber point guard who is averaging around 20 points and 10 assists each year.

Who knows? Perhaps, on a random day, Magic Johnson all of a sudden musters the strength to pull off a bold move by sending a package centered on Ball to the Wizards in exchange for a bona fide elite playmaker in Wall. Now, that’s a landscape-changing deal.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED