Philadelphia 76ers: Don’t fall for Bradley Beal’s talk again

If the Philadelphia 76ers go all-in on pursuing a star this summer, the hottest name (theoretical) on the open market is Bradley Beal.

Now sure, some folks are big fans of Zach LaVine and the Miles Bridges hype train, though somewhat stilted over the past month, could have a final destination of a max contract in Detroit, but if Beal were to take fate into his own hands and seriously pursue free agency for the first time in his career, the market would be hot for the offensively dominant two guard out of Florida.

Would the Sixers take a serious look at Beal and potentially even do the requisite moves needed to free up the cap space needed to facilitate a max contract? Potentially so; I mean, according to Bill Simmons, Joel Embiid wanted Beal more than even James Harden at February’s trade deadline, and it’s hard to imagine that interest has dwindled over the past four months.

Unfortunately, it’s probably not going to happen. No, regardless of how many quotes Beal drops about wanting to play where he can win, I wouldn’t start mocking the Washington lifer to Boston, Miami, or even the City of Brotherly Love until he actually opts out of his contract.

Bradley Beal probably won’t be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers this fall… or ever.

Bradley Beal has almost left Washington about a number of times.

Though he signed his second contract when the Wizards were still relatively promising, as his dynamic pairing with John Wall formed one of the best backcourts in the East, but when Wall fell off due to injury and basically off the NBA map, the relationship between Beal and Washington got weird.

Beal lamented losing and looked visibly frustrated when he’d drop 40 points in a losing effort, and after winning just 32 games in 2018-19, Beal… signed a two-year extension worth $70 million?

What?

Now granted, the Wizards at least tried to keep Beal happy since then. They traded Wall for Russell Westbrook, which was a bad idea, and then swapped the walking triple-double to LA for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harrell, which worked out better but still wasn’t traded, and even traded Spencer Dinwiddie after a few months with the team for Kristaps Porzingis, but none of the moves have magically rocketed the Wizards to championship contention, let alone a guaranteed spot in the playoffs.

If winning really is Beal’s ultimate goal, it’s not going to happen in Washington, as they’ve had a losing record for four straight seasons. And yet, whenever an opportunity to leave sprouts up, Beal hasn’t taken it. He could have forced a trade to Philly back in February but ultimately opted for season-ending surgery instead. He could have openly declared his intentions to leave this summer and be in the middle of sign-and-trade negotiations as we speak, but instead, all the greater NBA universe has been met with are ominous quotes that sometimes contradict the previous one.

Unless something changes in a hurry, counting on Beal switching teams this summer isn’t a particularly safe bet.

Would the Philadelphia 76ers be a better team with Bradley Beal in the starting lineup? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not. At this point, it’s probably better to build around Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, and Joel Embiid than hope to secure a potentially redundant star who could cost quite a bit to acquire both financially and from an asset allocation standpoint.