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After years of speculation, it finally appears as if the Washington Wizards are open to considering a Bradley Beal trade. According to The Athletic's Shams Charania and Josh Robbins, the Wizards and Beal will work together to find a trade for the three-time All-Star if new Wizards president Michael Winger ultimately elects to start a rebuild this offseason as has often been rumored. Beal has been the subject of trade rumors for several years, but it appears that the hiring of Winger ultimately gave the team the push it needed to explore deals in earnest.

The Wizards have to work cooperatively with Beal on a trade because of the contract former general manager Tommy Sheppard signed him to last offseason. As part of the five-year, $251 million max contract Beal signed, he also received a no-trade clause. That will allow Beal not only to control where he goes but what sort of package an opposing team needs to give up to acquire him. The Athletic is reporting that the Miami Heat are expected to be a prominent suitor for Beal if he does ultimately become available.

Beal is one of the most explosive scoring guards in the NBA, but for a variety of reasons, his trade value at the moment is relatively low. He's played only 90 games over the past two seasons due to injury. His contract is prohibitively expensive at a point in league history in which contract value is more important than ever. He's never been a strong defender and his 3-point shooting has fallen off significantly in recent years, all the way down to 30% during the 2021-22 season and just 34.7% across the past five seasons.

Yet All-Star scoring guards are among the most valuable commodities in basketball. There are going to be teams that want to land Beal. Moving him would allow the Wizards, who have made the playoffs just once in the past five years without drafting higher than ninth, to finally kick off a full-scale rebuild.