NBA Trades: 3 takeaways from Russell Westbrook Lakers-Wizards trade

Takeaways from Russell Westbrook trade to Lakers: 3. Bradley Beal’s future in Washington continues to loom

Many thought a Westbrook trade would be the domino that led to a potential Bradley Beal trade on draft night.

Wizards general manager Tommy Shepard stated this week that Beal has yet to formally request a trade and last night it was made clear that the Wizards intend to build around Beal going forward.

Corey Kispert seems like more of a win-now move for the Wizards as he adds immediate shooting alongside Davis Bertans.

As stated previously, the Wizards young nucleus with the additions of Kuzma improves the team’s future greatly. Veterans Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will help you win games for this upcoming season, but is the current roster construction enough to convince Beal to stay and opt-in? At the time being, that doesn’t look likely.

Beal is at a point in his career where winning is the ultimate goal. While the Westbrook deal sets up the Wizards for the years to come, it isn’t necessarily enough to be a top threat in the Eastern Conference in 2022.

There are a handful of teams with interest in Beal’s services, but with the draft behind us, that may affect the packages they can offer.

The draft was the best time for the Wizards to capitalize on the number of assets they could get in a potential Beal trade. If Beal wants to stick it out in Washington, the Wizards front office still has several moves to make to put themselves in a position to win.

Beal could opt to leave in free agency next summer, leaving Washington with nothing to show for losing a top-20 NBA player, but that seems unlikely due to the great relationships Beal has built in Washington. There could also still be a deal that takes place this summer or during the upcoming NBA season.

With the Westbrook trade in place, it puts Beal’s future in Washington even more in question than it was before the draft took place.