Boston Celtics: The ideal trade scenario to bring Bradley Beal to Beantown

Why the trade makes sense:

In the NBA, there’s really only one way to win: SUPERSTARS, SUPERSTARS, SUPERSTARS.

It’s no coincidence that for the last two seasons the team that Kawhi Leonard or Lebron James joined won a title. While unhappy superstars seem to pop up every year, Washington is not a primetime destination. Their best way to win may be to build through the draft, hope you get lucky and land a #1 pick and build around that guy.

The three first-round picks may get you that guy without even having to land a top lottery pick. Hayward could be another mid-season trade, or maybe he shows out in Washington and signs an extension if he returns to the player he once was. Or, at the very least, his contract expires at the end of the season…and if he continues to be the Gordon Hayward of late, you at least get $34 million off your books.

As for Carsen Edwards, he simply opens up another roster spot for Boston for a legitimate bench piece. Possibly a veteran who will play for the league minimum? On the Wizards side, it’s another low-risk, high reward piece. They have found recent success with undersized point guards in Ish Smith and Shabazz Napier, both of which had a successful season coming to Washington last season. Maybe they can replicate that with Edwards and use him as a backup point guard.

As for Boston, you hope that the combination of Walker, Beal, Brown and Tatum is enough to push you over the top. None of them may be superstars, but four stars may be enough to get it done. Regardless, the Boston Celtics need a change of personel and Beal could be the guy to put them over the top.

It’s very rare in today’s NBA to see an unhappy star player go for anything more than a top-10 draft pick. If Washington can then flip #14, #26 and #30 to get into the later top-10, that is already above market-value for Beal. Add in Hayward and Edwards, and you may not get a better offer for the shooting guard.