Despite suggestions, the Golden State Warriors should avoid Bradley Beal

A path to trading for another star was opened the moment the Golden State Warriors won the No. 2 overall NBA Draft pick.

After earning the No.2 draft pick in the 2020 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors have limitless options when it comes to adding to their roster. But adding Bradley Beal shouldn’t be one of them.

The Warriors could stand still and select the best prospect available, a James Wiseman or Obi Toppin springs to mind. Or they could trade back to add a young prospect like Tyrese Halliburton and a veteran, potentially a backup small forward for Andrew Wiggins to add to Steve Kerr’s rotation.

A suggestion that has repeatedly been mentioned is for the Warriors to trade their No.2 pick and the Minnesota Timberwolves 2021 first round pick in exchange for a superstar. Beal is the most recent name to spring up in theoretical trade rumors.

However, despite suggestions, the Warriors should avoid Beal at all costs.

Beal is coming off a sensational season for the underperforming Wizards, averaging 30.5 points per game, 6.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds and is shooting over 45% for the season. Although he would improve the Dubs’ offensive potency, the fit would be far from ideal.

Fitting Beal into the lineup may be a seamless transition offensively, and in an NBA, which is heavy on small-ball lineups and three-point shooting the Dubs would have the best and possibly the most difficult lineup to defend.

However, making the fit work defensively is a different story.

Beal is a shooting guard, the same position that Klay Thompson has played his entire career. At 6 foot 3, Beal has the makeup of a point guard, like Steph Curry, which makes the pairing suspect defensively in the backcourt.

Acquiring Beal would force Golden State to permanently shift Klay Thompson to small forward in order to accommodate their new superstar. WhIle Thompson does have the size to guard small forwards, but having both Beal and Curry in the lineup would mean the defensive flexibility and length the Warriors once had would be hard to replicate.

This would be similar to what the Dubs attempted to do with D’Angelo Russell. Despite the fit being questionable, Golden State boss Steve Kerr attempted to incorporate Russell into the starting five, but as time passed Kerr knew that it wouldn’t work long-term and traded D’Lo for Andrew Wiggins.

Although Beal is much more effective offensively and works harder defensively the problems on the defensive end would have parallels.

Even though the Warriors would be unstoppable offensively, the defense would be far from championship standard and would make their run to another championship harder.

Regardless of what the Dubs intentions are, the Wizards have repeatedly stated their desire to keep Beal on board. In all likelihood, they intend to see how Beal, John Wall, Davis Bertans, Rui Hachimura and Thomas Bryant fare together in 2020-21 before making a decision.