Bradley Beal may be a former All-Star, but his trade market as the Washington Wizards enter a rebuild has been surprisingly tepid. With a four-year max contract, a scary recent injury history and a no-trade clause at his disposal, the Miami Heat were the only team known to have registered interest early in the process. But now, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania and Sam Amick, another team has entered the fray, and it's a surprising one: the Sacramento Kings.
On paper, Sacramento makes very little sense as a destination for Beal. The Kings just had the most efficient regular-season offense in NBA history. Their offense is built around All-Star point guard De'Aaron Fox and features two young shooting guards in Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk that are coming off of great years.
They also lack easy matching salary to make a move like this. Beal is set to make $46.7 million next season, but the entire Kings roster outside of Fox and Domantas Sabonis combines to make only around $55 million in total, and all of that money is owed to valuable players. They could add more matching salary by signing-and-trading Harrison Barnes, but that would require Barnes' cooperation.
The Kings owe one first-round pick to the Hawks due to the Huerter trade, but otherwise control their draft capital moving forward. Considering the relatively low value Beal appears to have on the open market thanks to his contract, Sacramento could feasibly build an acceptable package. However, according to Charania and Amick, there does not immediately appear to be a clear pathway to a deal between the two teams. However, they note that it is believed that Beal would consider waiving his no-trade clause to go to the Kings.
Even if no deal is consummated, this is the sort of leak that serves both teams. The Wizards need to send a message to the rest of the league that they are getting significant interest for Beal, and the Kings, after snapping a 17-year playoff drought last season, want the basketball world to see Sacramento as a destination. Form that perspective, Beal talks have already benefitted both sides even if no deal materializes.
