Boston Celtics: “Pros and Cons” of C’s pursuing Bradley Beal this summer

Cons of the Boston Celtics pursuing Bradley Beal

The identity of this new-look Boston Celtics squad is built on stone tough defense and free-flowing ball movement, two areas that this writer does not believe Bradley Beal could adapt well to and it is a part of the reason the C’s should consider staying away from the star.

To put it simply, this Wizard will not wave a wand to instantly make himself become even a competent defender. He entered the league with heavy promise on that end but has shown a steady regression season to season defensively.

Now, could the C’s make the 6-4 guard into an adequate two-way player? Sure to some extent, but you do not take on a player of his caliber with the expectation that he completely tailors his game to fit the team’s needs.

Defense is generally not something that comes naturally over time, as it’s hard work and no amount of pure talent can make up for a lack of effort.

Unless the Celtics want to sacrifice a winning culture and team identity that has made them a matchup nightmare for opposing offenses, they should look elsewhere for any vast improvements.

To put it into perspective, Bradley Beal holds a defensive rating of 115.0 and that means, when he is on the floor, the Wizards are giving up 115 points per game.

Could the Boston Celtics take on this bad of a defender and still be a top defense?

Likely not.

Now, on offense, you are getting another guy that will demand the ball and is not nearly as effective without it.

Remember, that old version of the C’s that overdribbled on isolation-heavy possessions. We may have the displeasure of seeing this once again.

Bad ball movement and ball stoppers are contagious offensively. When everyone is looking for themselves they stop thinking about playing within the team concept to make everyone else better.

Segwaying a bit, shockingly enough one of the main cons here is the thought of what if we do not land Bradley Beal?

Imagine a scenario where the C’s put all their time and effort into the pursuit of this superstar and it does not come to fruition.

It is not a dead-on guarantee that Beantown would easily acquire the services of the elite scoring guard. It would not be the first time Boston missed on a star-free agent.

Remember when Kevin Durant chose the Golden State Warriors over the shamrocks back in the summer of 2016?

Boston anticipated landing KD and did not despite a heavy recruitment process that even included the likes of Tom Brady and signing a good friend in Al Horford.

The point is nothing is a guarantee in sports and Boston learned the hard way that they had no immediate backup plan when they went all-in on the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.

Let’s just say that Bradley chooses to go to the Knicks and spurns the shamrocks in free agency. Do we have a plan B or C?

This was marked as the Summer of Beal.

Sometimes, a team can lose themselves in the pursuit of the unattainable. I cannot blame Brad Stevens here if he does because the thought of a Beal, Brown, Tatum trio is salivating to everyone in the Boston Celtics community but, alas, they’ll have to be all-in on a pursuit and, in turn, run the risk of missing out altogether.