Co-star #5: Bradley Beal
The Washington Wizards will be at a crossroads this off-season. Washington will select in the lottery for the second straight season, and two of their three best players will be free agents this summer. A lot of what they do will depend on where their draft pick will end up; if it moves up into the top four, they could look to rebuild, and that begins with trading Bradley Beal.
There are several teams that could be interested in trading for Beal, but the Blazers should be near the top of the list. Beal’s contract is enormous, and few teams can afford to acquire him without gutting their team or running afoul of the new, stricter CBA agreement. The Blazers could construct a trade consisting of Simons, Nurkic, and two first-rounders for Beal.
Trading Beal would allow the Wizards to hit the reset button and properly rebuild. They could use the assets received to lay the foundation while letting key free agents such as Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma leave in free agency. With Beal gone, they could bottom out and rebuild through the draft. Meanwhile, Portland would pair Dame with another top-tier scorer, and having both could lead to a third star joining the team.