Could the LA Clippers Trade for Bradley Beal?

Can the LA Clippers and Washington Wizards make a Bradley Beal trade?

With reports circulating about the possibility of Bradley Beal being traded from the Washington Wizards this summer, several teams have been rumored as possible landing spots. While the LA Clippers have not regularly shown up on these lists of possible destinations for Beal, their win-now timeline, along with their stated intention to continue building around Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, could spark an interest in adding additional fire-power.

While Beal would theoretically be a solid scoring guard next to Leonard and George, acquiring him is much more complicated than most other big trades. Because Beal has a no-trade clause in his contract with the Wizards, he can reject any trade the team attempts to make. While a move to the Clippers may seem like a desirable outcome for Beal, he could also reject a deal based upon the framework, if he felt a team was gutting too much of their roster in order to acquire him.

It's unclear what Beal's exact desires are as it pertains to trade destinations, but his no-trade clause does complicate things. Making matters additionally difficult is Beal's $46.7M salary, which increases each year through 2027, reaching a massive annual value of $57.1M for the 2026-27 season that Beal has a player option for. Committing this much money to Beal through 2027 would significantly limit LA's roster-building options following this upcoming season, which is when both Leonard and George can opt-out of their current deals.

There is the possibility that Beal's contract could significantly limit his trade value to the point where a team like the Clippers could acquire him for a package of expiring deals and draft compensation/unproven young talent. If that were the case, a deal would become more enticing for the Clippers, but the contract concerns would still remain, making a Beal trade feel unlikely.

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