Bradley Beal, Julius Randle, Andre Drummond, NY Knicks (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Should the NY Knicks cut a deal for Bradley Beal?
Since the news broke that Worldwise Wes had allegedly been in the ear of some that are close to Bradley Beal, and has been trying to nudge them toward requesting a trade soon, the idea of Beal coming to The Mecca has always been in the back of my mind.
Some can argue that Beal is the best version of what you’d consider an “empty stats” guy because even though he’s scoring a ton of points per game, it doesn’t really result in winning.
But my argument here is that Bradley Beal has never had a coach of the same caliber of Tom Thibodeau.
Coach Thibs took essentially the same roster from last season that ranked 23rd in overall Defensive rating and transformed them into a team that ranks 5th in the league seemingly overnight.
When you bring an offensive weapon like Bradley Beal into that equation while managing to keep Julius Randle, now we’re pairing a top-10 offense along with a potentially top-5 defense.
Now, when it comes to the actual trade for Beal, I’m going to be referencing the trade that sent Anthony Davis to Los Angeles as a comparison.
That trade sent Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, 2019’s 4th overall pick, a top-8 protected pick in 2021 which converts to an unprotected 2022 1st, an unprotected 1st in 2024, and the right to swap picks in 2023 and 2025.
Massive haul to say the least.
Now, in fairness, Bradley Beal is not the same level of talent that is Anthony Davis, but then again…Beal is still under contract for another season after this current one so both factors are to be taken into account.
Here’s the trade I came up with:
Knicks Get
Bradley Beal
Davis Bertans
Wizards Get
RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Aaron Nesmith
Kevin Knox, Obi Toppin, Reggie Bullock
NYK 2021 First Round Pick
2022 Pick Swap, 2023 NYK 1st Rd pick
Celtics Get
Elfrid Payton
DET 2021 2nd Rd Pick
NYK 2022 2nd Rd pick
I think the Celtics could use Elfrid Payton as their backup point guard, and Payton happily goes to Boston because they’re a contender so he’d waive his no-trade clause.
I’ve explored this trade before and I can see it happening in the near future.
They’re not utilizing Nesmith anyway, might as well stockpile some picks and a solid ‘win now’ piece.
Nesmith instead goes to the Wizards in the deal.
The Wizards also acquire RJ Barrett who’s objectively better than Brandon Ingram was when he was traded from the Lakers.
Mitchell Robinson is of comparable talent level to that of Lonzo Ball when he was traded as well.
Obi Toppin, Reggie Bullock, Kevin Knox, and Aaron Nesmith make up for the fact that the Knicks wouldn’t be sending as many first-round picks in the deal that the Lakers did.
New York also absorbs Davis Bertans’ contract as a part of the deal, which should not be viewed as just a throw-in type of player. Bertans is as elite a 3-point shooter as the Knicks could possibly ask for.
Mind you, the Knicks keep both Dallas’ picks in 2021 and 2023 as well as all of the 2nd rounders they’ve stockpiled for the 2023 draft in what’s to be viewed as the ‘double draft’ where high school players will be eligible to be drafted that year.
It’s a lot to give up, I know…but the Knicks manage to keep a lot of players they have in their current rotation along with rookie phenom Immanuel Quickley AND get to pair Bradley Beal with Julius Randle.
The offer would have to completely blow away the Wizards’ front office in order to have them give Beal up this season.
Two of the three in the Knicks’ ‘Big-3’ assembled.
NY Knicks</a>‘ depressing loss to <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/julius-randles-controversial-traveling-call-explained-by-scott-foster-who-appears-to-have-gotten-it-right/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Brooklyn Scott Foster’s</a> (haha) and it just makes me want the front office to upgrade so badly and start to really compete now by adding Bradley Beal and Andre Drummond.</p>
<p>The Knicks are at this point where when they’re 100% healthy, they can compete with anyone in the East but are going to take their lumps when facing the top-3 teams.</p>
<p>This needs to change fast.</p>
<p>I see a team that has a championship-caliber defense, but an offense that gets shut down more often than not.</p>
<p>My main concern is that Julius Randle while playing out of his mind this year, is truly no better than the 2nd best player on a Championship-winning roster.</p>
<p>We need to find a Batman to Randle’s Robin and then some.</p>
<h2>Bradley Beal, Julius Randle, and Andre Drummond on the NY Knicks?</h2>
<p>This is what brings me to this article…if I’m the Knicks, I’m trading for Bradley Beal this year and finding a way to acquire Andre Drummond or LaMarcus Aldridge.</p>
<p>There were rumors that Coach Thibodeau wanted to trade both RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson for seasoned veterans before the year began, so it’s obvious this team is trying to compete today.</p>
<p>By no means should they get desperate to compete and make the same mistakes they made when they traded for Carmelo Anthony.</p>
<p>But Coach Thibs is a proven commodity and well-respected across the league, he deserves a chance to run a team capable of seriously competing come playoff time.</p>
<p>The question Knicks fans must ask themselves is “Is Tom Thibodeau a coach for a rebuilding roster focused on development?”</p>
<p>The easy answer is no.</p>
<p>Here we’ll be discussing the 2 steps necessary for the Knicks to create a Big-3 this season and becoming a legitimate contender in the East.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Trade for Bradley Beal </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-116448" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1307308259.jpeg" alt="Bradley Beal, Julius Randle, Andre Drummond, NY Knicks" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1307308259.jpeg 3200w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1307308259-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Bradley Beal, Julius Randle, Andre Drummond, NY Knicks (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Should the NY Knicks cut a deal for Bradley Beal?</h2>
<p>Since the news broke that Worldwise Wes had allegedly <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/ny-bradley-beal-20210220-rbtjyykei5frtn6jxlqn7ogvma-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been in the ear of some</a> that are close to Bradley Beal, and has been trying to nudge them toward requesting a trade soon, the <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"https://dailyknicks.com/2021/01/07/new-york-knicks-what-trade-bradley-beal/">idea of Beal coming to The Mecca</a> has always been in the back of my mind.</p>
<p>Some can argue that Beal is the best version of what you’d consider an “empty stats” guy because even though he’s scoring a ton of points per game, it doesn’t really result in winning.</p>
<p>But my argument here is that Bradley Beal has never had a coach of the same caliber of Tom Thibodeau.</p>
<p>Coach Thibs took essentially the same roster from last season that ranked 23rd in overall Defensive rating and transformed them into a team that ranks 5th in the league seemingly overnight.</p>
<p>When you bring an offensive weapon like Bradley Beal into that equation while managing to keep Julius Randle, now we’re pairing a top-10 offense along with a potentially top-5 defense.</p>
<p>Now, when it comes to the actual trade for Beal, I’m going to be referencing the trade that <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1140023139142971392" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent Anthony Davis to Los Angeles</a> as a comparison.</p>
<p>That trade sent Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, 2019’s 4th overall pick, a top-8 protected pick in 2021 which converts to an unprotected 2022 1st, an unprotected 1st in 2024, and the right to swap picks in 2023 and 2025.</p>
<p>Massive haul to say the least.</p>
<p>Now, in fairness, Bradley Beal is not the same level of talent that is Anthony Davis, but then again…Beal is still under contract for another season after this current one so both factors are to be taken into account.</p>
<p>Here’s the trade I came up with:</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="Trade" data-team-ids="[27,142,18]" data-team-gets='[["Bradley Beal","Davis Bertans"],["RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Aaron Nesmith","Kevin Knox, Obi Toppin, Reggie Bullock","NYK 2021 First Round Pick","2022 Pick Swap, 2023 NYK 1st Rd pick"],["Elfrid Payton","DET 2021 2nd Rd Pick","NYK 2022 2nd Rd pick"]]'> <div class="playertrade remove-native-227"> <div class="trade"> <div class="team a"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fknicks.png">
<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Knicks Get</div> <div class="info">Bradley Beal</div> <div class="info">Davis Bertans</div> </div> </div> <div class="separator"></div> <div class="team b"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fwizards.png">
<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Wizards Get</div> <div class="info">RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Aaron Nesmith</div> <div class="info">Kevin Knox, Obi Toppin, Reggie Bullock</div> <div class="info">NYK 2021 First Round Pick</div> <div class="info">2022 Pick Swap, 2023 NYK 1st Rd pick</div> </div> </div> <div class="separator"></div> <div class="team c"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/ny-knicks-beal-randle-drummond-big-3/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fceltics.png">
