Bradley Beal returned to the L.A. Clippers on Thursday after signing a two-year, $12.3 million contract with the franchise, but the Golden State Warriors’ lack of interest in the veteran guard is interesting after Mike Dunleavy Jr.’s message of talent over availability earlier in the week.
The Warriors were reportedly interested in Beal last offseason following his exit from the Phoenix Suns, yet there were no such reports this time around despite Golden State’s need for more offensive firepower while Jimmy Butler remains sidelined by injury.
Bradley Beal signing looks worse after Mike Dunleavy message
In an online press conference on Tuesday, Dunleavy claimed Golden State had to make a decision of talent over availability, presumably referring to the re-signing of good but injury-prone veterans like Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton.
"We had to make a decision between talent and availability, and I think we leaned more towards talent," Dunleavy said.
Why then were they seemingly not interested in Beal? The 33-year-old would have been the ultimate talent over availability move -- a gamble that the Warriors needed to try and make given the state of their roster. Beal has the talent and history of being a three-time All-Star and even in a rough final year in Phoenix during the 2024-25 season, he still averaged 17.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 38.6% shooting from 3-point range.
There were murmurs that Golden State were also going to look at DeMar DeRozan if they missed out on LeBron James. The superstar forward headed to the Philadelphia 76ers, but there’s been no mention of any Warriors’ interest in DeRozan despite his ongoing availability,
Warriors aren’t following through on talent over availability approach
DeRozan wouldn’t even be a talent over availability choice given he’s been one of the most durable veterans in the league over recent years. Perhaps he and Beal are just too far from Golden State’s minimum-level price range, but it’s nonetheless surprising that we’ve heard zero interest when they’ve publicly stated a choice of prioritizing talent.
Instead, the Warriors have been linked to the likes of Georges Niang, Brandon Williams and Dalen Terry with the final two roster spots. None of those players have got close to Beal and DeRozan’s even recent level of play, and likely never will when it comes to the scoring production the Warriors need to support Stephen Curry.
The reported interest in these players for the final roster spots is incongruent with what Dunleavy stated on Tuesday, and makes Beal’s return to the Clippers look bad for the Warriors when there was no reported interest.
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