Exploring trade ideas for the New York Knicks to acquire Bradley Beal
The New York Knicks are on pace for a 40-win season and their first playoff birth in almost 10 years. You read that right, no need to adjust your televisions, The Knicks are actually on pace to make the playoffs. After ESPN’s rocket scientists estimated they would only win approximately 24 games and to be the 3rd worst team in the Eastern Conference, to quote the late David Fizdale’s infamous line, “Take that for data”.
For the Knicks fans out there who want to continue a proper rebuild through the draft to avoid making the same mistakes the organization has made time and time again, I hear you. Some will most definitely still come after me for these trades but I just couldn’t live in a world where I didn’t at least explore the idea of Bradley Beal becoming a Knick. The last time New York traded for a superstar in their prime, they were able to build a 54-win team around Carmelo Anthony and made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
With the Washington Wizards doing whatever they could this offseason to keep Beal happy in D.C., it looks like their efforts will be fruitless. Between pairing Beal with the polarizing Russell Westbrook and bringing back Davis Bertans on a very generous contract, the Wiz have only managed to eke out two unimpressive wins on the season, even after he put up 60 points last night!
Although Bradley Beal has not been one to vocally express his dissatisfaction and disappointment with the team through various media outlets, if we read between the lines during his post-game interviews we can assume he may start looking for a way out soon.
If a Beal trade ever presented itself, I could see it going one of two ways: Either the Wizards decide that after losing Beal, they go with a youth movement moving forward and start up a new rebuild, or even with Beal gone they try to reload while remaining competitive. For the Knicks, the goal would be to improve the current roster and make a playoff run without decimating their entire future.
Let’s explore some trade ideas.
Julius Randle, Alec Burks, Reggie Bullock both 2021 1st round picks and both 2023 1st round picks for Bradley Beal
Before you send hate-mail to me on Twitter, just hear me out. Julias Randle is having an incredible season, we know this. He’s almost single-handedly making the Knicks a playoff contender. The fact remains that some of his feats so far this season could be unsustainable so New York should capitalize on Randle’s value at its highest and strike while the iron is scorching hot.
If anyone needs to be explained exactly how much better Bradley Beal is than Julius Randle, you may not know much about basketball. The Knicks would also have control over Beal for the next three seasons as long as Beal opts into the player option in the final year of his extension, which would give other stars even more reason than they have now to come to play in the Mecca of basketball.
If Bradley Beal lacks anywhere it’s on the defensive side of the ball, so who better to coach him than one of the best defensive minds the NBA has to offer in Tom Thibodeau? The Knicks are currently a top-10 defense under Thibs with a similar roster that was bottom-of-the-barrel under David Fizdale and Mike Miller.
The trade also pairs one of the league’s elite scorers and a career 38 percent 3-point shooter next to young RJ Barrett. This would immediately open up scoring lanes for RJ while taking the pressure off him to shoot jumpers as often as he has been.
Potential lineup: Elfrid Payton, Bradley Beal, RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Mitchell Robinson
Note: Burks is ineligible for trade until after February 5th, so this trade would have to wait until after that date.
RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr., 2021 Knicks 1st (top-5 protected) and 2023 Dallas protected 1st for Bradley Beal
If the previous slide made you want to punch the air in a rage, buckle up because this one’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
Do I want to trade RJ or Obi? No. Do I think either of them gives the Knicks a better chance to make a playoff run? Also no. Knicks fans are going to have to pick their poison here, and Bradley Beal is a proven commodity that will keep them contending for years to come without a shadow of a doubt.
I fought with myself for an hour whether I wanted to include Kevin Knox or Obi Toppin in this trade and I settled on Obi because I love the synergy Immanuel Quickley and Kevin Knox have as the leaders of the second unit. Additionally, if I switched out Obi for Knox, I think the Wizards would require more draft capital, which I was reluctant to give up.
As much as losing RJ hurts, if the Knicks plan to contend in the playoffs they need to establish themselves as one of the better 3-point shooting teams in the league to make up for their other offensive deficiencies, and Beal does just that.
Assuming Julius Randle stays the course and remains one of the elite stat-sheet stuffers, a 1-2 punch between Beal and Randle would easily make New York one of the best offenses the NBA has to offer. Also, having Alec Burks as your 3rd scoring option could be dangerous, as he’s proven so far that he can post 15-18 points a night with super-efficient shooting from deep.
This trade also provides Coach Thibs with more of a veteran-laden starting lineup that he can feel comfortable leaning on during the tougher games that come along with the consistent grind that is the NBA playoffs.
Potential lineup: Elfrid Payton, Bradley Beal, Alec Burks, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson