NBA: James Harden and 5 other players who most need a trade

4. Bradley Beal – Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards just finished dealing with a must-trade player in John Wall, and they swapped him for Russell Westbrook, possibly the only player in the NBA he COULD be traded for.

Bradley Beal‘s situation is different. He’s given no indication of wanting out of Washington, but the direction the club is heading in remains clear. It’s perhaps a fringe playoff team if absolutely everything goes right, but not much more than that. Beal is a player who could be a difference-maker on a good team, and he surely realizes that he won’t get the accolades he deserves with this team.

So while he may not overtly want out, in his heart of hearts Beal must realize that the clock is ticking. There’s no reason for him to miss the playoffs year after year, scoring 30 points per game, getting no awards or hardware for his efforts.

Time will tell how Westbrook and Beal mesh, but they’ll probably be fine together. Even if they do well, it doesn’t mean that Beal won’t eventually want or need out of Washington. For Beal, the sooner it can happen, the better.