2023-24 Offseason Trade: Bradley Beal and Chris Paul

Another offseason trade, another three teams involved. Do only good things happen in threes? No, of course not! There aren’t three patties on a Big Mac, therefore I rest my case… and before someone tries to convince me that Wendy’s can do three patties, I’m here to cover trades and talk about hamburgers, and I’ve already filled my quota this season for hamburger content. Herego, let’s go over the unique trade that landed another star for the Suns and set in motion a true rebuild (can it be finally?) in the nation’s Capital. And actually, to do this right, or at least in an efficient manner, we’ll add one more bonus trade that’s related! Bonus anything is good. Except canned asparagus, that is actually not good at all. I’m thinking I might just be hungry, regardless, here’s how the Suns to Wizards to Pacers looked…

And then of course, we all know Chris Paul wasn’t going to hang around in the District for much longer… and hey, a normal two-team trade. Who woulda thought it was possible?

So plainly, the main characters in this fantasy story are Bradley Beal, Chris Paul and Jordan Poole. No offense to Landry Shamet, of course. And yes, I can confirm that all the questions one could ask about all the dynamics of these three players were asked and answered at the times of these respective trades.

With Beal, you really do have questions about how this lineup will work. I don’t think I’ll be a naysayer here and say it won’t, but I think it’ll be awkward from time-to-time. But there’s no way not to like this trio on paper, scoring might be subdued across the board on all three, but I think each player has their own way of breaking out a bit in other ways. Different rotations will help, and I like Vogel as a coach, but don’t sleep on the fact that Kevin Durant is exactly the type of player to facilitate, not just in the normal sense, but has the experience and savvy to be the tether between Devin Booker and Beal. I know on paper this looks like a trio that overlaps a lot, but don’t be surprised if Booker and Durant find their own ways to thrive in this environment.

Not exactly in the same situation, there are shades of a similar dynamic in San Fransisco with both Chris Paul and Steph Curry, some of the best point guards the last decade (or two in Paul’s case) now on the same roster. How this changes Curry’s current role is still in question even though the Warriors’ front office and Kerr have noted several times that Paul would be the main ball-carrier and play-caller at the one. It’s hard to believe that one, Curry still wouldn’t be the one dictating the flow of the offense, especially in critical situations but on top of that, Paul’s not getting any younger and his late season and playoff fades are becoming far more the norm. This seems to be almost a Westbrook situation with the Lakers during last midpoint, where he was simply relegated to the second rotation, and for a time, it did spark him a bit. Not that Paul can spark too much anymore, but he clearly solidifies that lineup when Curry isn’t on the court and becomes the perfect distributor in a lot of micro-scenarios. Still, this is all a long way of saying that Pauls’ value lowers a bit from his career-stage and current role.

Jordan Poole remains an intriguing asset, but still has a lot to prove and will have plenty of changes on the rebuilding Wizard’s roster. I recently opined that Poole and Kuzma would probably combine for over 50 shots a night, but this is definitely not hyperbole. Whether that’s a good thing or not is another question, but the point is Poole will get volume, so treat that as you may…

Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell.