Prioritizing Mavs Pipe-Dreams: Bradley Beal Trade vs. Kawhi Leonard Signing?

Even though Kawhi could miss all of next season, would it still be better to sign him outright in free agency rather than offering 'the farm' to the Wizards for Beal?

With less than a week until the NBA Draft and just nine days remaining until the opening of free agency, the Dallas Mavericks have already been connected to a handful of talented players in rumors, including Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard. As we inch closer to August 2nd, the idea of Leonard staying with the Clippers is no longer a sure bet according to a recent report from Marc Stein.

Leonard, who will likely miss most, if not all, of next season due to partially tearing his ACL in this year's playoffs, will undoubtedly still be able to obtain a max contract from whichever team he wants to play with going forward. Will that team end up being the Mavs? Stein also reports that regardless of the injury situation, Dallas will not shy away from pursuing Leonard.

READ MORE: Kawhi Leonard Joins Luka Doncic? How Mavs 'Most Serious Threat' NBA Free Agency Signing Would Work

In other NBA rumor rumblings, Washington Wizards star shooting guard Bradley Beal could potentially ask to be traded before the NBA Draft, according to Jake Fischer. Here at DallasBasketball.com, we have put together pipe-dream Beal-to-Dallas scenarios for what feels like at least three or four years now. However, the Wizards are stubborn when it comes to blowing up their roster and starting over despite years of mediocrity, and Beal, at least up until now, has always shown a desire to stay with Washington.

If those stances have finally changed, it is certainly a situation the Mavs should explore, but do they have enough assets to even make it to the negotiation table with the Wizards? Even if a Beal trade was to become a realistic possibility for Dallas, would signing Leonard outright in free agency without having to 'give up the farm' be a more favorable outcome even with Leonard likely being out for a full season?

READ MORE: Chris Paul and Mavs - Another Pipe-Dream?

Dalton Trigg (@dalton_trigg) and Matt Galatzan (@Matt_Galatzan) discuss all of this and much more, including Luka Doncic's chances of leading Slovenia to a gold medal in the Olympics, on this weekend's edition of the Mavs Step Back Podcast:

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