As widely suspected, the Los Angeles Clippers had a plan. They didn’t just dump Norman Powell to avoid overpaying him on his next contract; they effectively swapped him for John Collins and Bradley Beal, the latter of whom will reportedly join the team on a two-year, $11 million contract (with a player option on Year 2) once he has cleared waivers.
Aside from the Phoenix Suns’ puzzling decision to waive Beal (and pay him $19.2 million annually for the next five years), everything about this makes sense. This is a right-place, right-time, right-player, right-price situation.
Right place, right time
In Phoenix, on an enormous contract that included a no-trade clause, Beal came to be seen as a burden. In Los Angeles, on a deal that will pay him $5.3 million this season, he’s a bargain. He’s joining a deep, veteran team not as the third member of a Big 3 but as another piece of an increasingly interesting puzzle.
With the Suns, Beal’s defensive limitations were magnified because the roster was top-heavy and small. This won’t be a problem with the Clippers, who had the league’s third-best defense last season and added Brook Lopez this summer. Beal won’t make All-Defense next year, but I bet he’ll look a lot feistier on a team that A) isn’t in a collective malaise and B) has Ivica Zubac and/or Lopez protecting the paint and a whole bunch of long, switchable wings.
Offensively, Beal should be in an ideal environment, too. In some ways, teaming up with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard isn’t that different to what he just experienced next to Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, but, in this situation, everybody knows who the point guard is. With Harden running the show and Leonard still capable of drawing two to the ball, Beal will find plenty of opportunities to attack tilted defenses. And when Beal initiates the offense himself, the Clippers’ screeners and floor spacers will make his life easier than ever. It’s unclear how exactly coach Tyronn Lue will manage the rotation, but Lue is renowned specifically for his mixing and matching.
Beal has…
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