The Wizards are about to get swept, or maybe lose in 5. They have no obvious way to improve significantly anytime soon.
The Celtics are also about to get swept, or maybe lose in 5. They've got Tatum and Brown, but no real third star now that Kemba isn't at that level anymore. The Celts have no obvious way to add that third star. Even if they want to clear cap space to be a player in the free agency market next summer, that would require making some pretty significant roster sacrifices in the short and medium term, not to mention finding a team to take Kemba's deal. So that seems unlikely.
We know Bradley Beal and Tatum are friends. Beal got a strong reminder of how great his friend is when Tatum dropped 50 on the Wiz in the play-in game.
Beal has just one guaranteed year left on his current deal after this one, then he has a player option which he is unlikely to pick up.
So, tell me why this won't happen:
- Beal informs the Wizards that he plans to opt out next summer and that he won't be re-signing with the Wizards. He also informs the Wizards that he wants to be traded to the Boston Celtics.
- Beal makes clear through back channels or whatever players use to get this out there, that he has a short list of teams with which he would consider re-signing, with Boston at the top of the list.
The Celtics offer:
Kemba Walker + [any young player the Wizards want] + at least 4 first round picks / pick swaps over the next 5 years.
The Celtics also offer to take on Bertans (who has several years left and looks like an overpay) by adding Tristan Thompson (expiring) to the deal, plus a couple filler salaries such as Romeo Langford and Grant Williams.
The Wizards reluctantly accept, as this is the best offer they get given Beal's demands.
The Celtics mortgage their future on a trio of Beal, Brown, and Tatum. They have assurances from Beal's camp that he intends to sign a 3+1 deal with the team in 2022 (which would line his contract up with Tatum). They believe those assurances despite times in the past when they thought other players intended to re-sign and didn't.
To be clear, I don't think this scenario is likely, but it's the only one I can think of right now that results in the Celtics being significantly better next season roster-wise than they were this year.
Tell me why this won't (or can't) happen. Maybe I'm missing something really obvious that would prevent this from even working at all. The most obvious reasons this won't happen I can think of are that (1) Beal would not actually have Boston at or near the top of his trade list or that (2) the Wizards would get a better offer from some other team that is willing to gamble on Beal staying with them.
Anyway, throw some cold water on me.