The Boston Celtics' offense stagnated at times against the Philadelphia 76ers, which contributed to their blowing a 3-1 lead. That's why there's been somewhat of an outcry for the Celtics to bring in an Anfernee Simons-type player. Even going as far as making the case to bring Simons back should the chance present itself.
The problem is, getting a scoring guard like that will likely cost the entirety of the non-taxpayers MLE, which isn't necessarily a problem - it's more or less half of what Simons was paid last season - but if there's a chance to add that caliber of a player for pennies for Boston, they should take it. Enter Bradley Beal.
Yes, I know. I'm well aware of everything that has happened with Beal over the last few years. Just hear this out. First of all, Beal is getting paid a tad over $5 million on his current contract (Phoenix will be paying him $97 million from last year up until 2030), so he would be pretty inexpensive to acquire.
Second, even with how disastrously everything went down with the Suns, he still proved himself an apt scorer who was clearly playing hurt the following year. With a clean bill of health at 33 years old, Beal is an excellent buy-low candidate who could bring a lot of what Simons did in Boston.
Beal is not what he used to be, but he is still efficient at what he does, though his clunky fit in Phoenix overshadowed the fact that he is still capable of scoring at a high level, even if it's not at an elite level.
And of course, he's Tatum's best friend, as the two grew up together in St. Louis. Tatum himself has admitted that they've discussed teaming up, so if there's a time to make that happen, it's now.
Expectations for Beal would, at best, be to be around the same scorer as Simons or Collin Sexton. The big difference between him and those two is that he wouldn't demand a contract like the non-taxpayers' MLE as they would, and for good reason too: he doesn't have to.
The Clippers appear to be in firesale mode, having traded James Harden and Ivica Zubac back in February, and it appears Kawhi Leonard might be next. The Celtics could use their Simons TPE or their Georges Niang TPE to absorb Beal. In fact, his value is so low that they may not even have to do that, as they might just waive him (he has a player option next season, but he'll likely opt in).
And if he doesn't work out, what does it matter?
No, this isn't a foolproof option. Beal is injury-prone, and his career is on the downslope, but this isn't like when the Suns traded for him, where he was getting paid around $50 million to be something that he wasn't. With the Celtics, he'd be paid substantially less in a lesser role, which might be what's best for him at this point.
If Boston trades for or signs him, it's not like he will ruin their cap room. They could easily re-route him elsewhere if he's a bust, even if Tatum would likely object to that. He can either be a useful addition to their rotation or be part of their next trade.
The guard position isn't Boston's most pressing issue, but it's one they shouldn't ignore entirely. On paper, Beal could be an excellent complement to Derrick White and Payton Pritchard like Simons was. If he can be had for nothing, he might just be the perfect Ant replacement.
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