Grade the Trade Pitch: Warriors add Beal as Wizards start a Poole Party

How can the Warriors trade for Beal?

The biggest factor in navigating through a trade is Bradley Beal’s massive salary. He makes $46.7 million, and to pull off a deal most teams will need to send back enough money to get within the “125 percent” rule; i.e. a receiving team can only take back 125 percent of the salary they send out. That means getting to around $37.5 million in outgoing salary.

If the Warriors aren’t going to trade Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins or Draymond Green in a Beal trade, they have to put Jordan Poole in the deal. Assuming Kevon Looney is likewise off the table, they can then either trade Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, or instead Gary Payton II and another small deal (perhaps Patrick Baldwin Jr.). Let’s go with the former option:

Bradley Beal can veto any deal, so the question is whether this trade would work for him. If he wants to be “the guy” he probably will never get dealt anywhere, but if he’s open to accepting a co-star role to pursue a title, the Warriors are a reasonable landing spot in need of his shot creation. This deal would also maximize the win-now pieces on the Warriors. If Beal is at all interested in the Dubs, this trade package should work for him.

For the Wizards, they are entering a rebuild and would likely prefer draft capital, but this is a deal without negative salary (or at least, not much in regards to Poole). Both Kuminga and Moody would have value around the league in another deal, or as a way to slide up in the lottery. They also are young enough to be a part of the new core the Wizards are building. Washington very likely would say yes to this deal.

Would the Warriors?