The Brighter Side of the Bradley Beal Signing
Shams Charania reported that Bradley Beal has agreed to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers on a two-year, $13.2 million deal with a player option in year two.
Despite concerns about Beal’s fit with this version of the Clippers as well as what this may mean in regards to re-signing Bennedict Mathurin and bringing in Peyton Watson, I am here to tell you that it will all be okay.
Admittedly, I also initially questioned this move from the Clippers. My dream offseason scenario would be for the Clippers to complete the Kawhi trade, re-sign Mathurin, and acquire Watson. I was initially concerned about the allocation of minutes upon Beal’s arrival as I would prefer Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders to secure those minutes. However, I am now seeing the brighter side in this Beal signing.
Bradley Beal was not awful for the Phoenix Suns. He was on an offensive heavy team where he was expected to be a top three option on a contender while making max money. On the Clippers, Beal will be earning $6.6 million while looking to prove himself in hopes of securing a larger contract upon the completion of this season. Despite Beal’s signing meaning there may be less minutes allocated to the younger core of Miller, Sanders, and Wagler, the purpose of this signing.m goes beyond those cons.
The Clippers are taking a low-risk in betting on Beal to exceed his $6.6 million salary. The team does not need him to be a 20-point scorer on a nightly basis, however, if he is able to get anything close to that come trade-deadline, they will be able to sell-high on such a cheap contract. Considering Miller is 26, Sanders is 24, and Wagler is 19, these players are still approaching their prime years and will not have their growth stunted by Beal’s appearance. If anything, the overall direction of the team now improves due to the Clippers’ new possibility to sell high on another solid veteran in order to surround this young core with better suitors and/or draft picks.
Beal is still a good basketball player. His ability to get downhill and shooting the three at a high level will help the Clippers in their pursuit to the playoffs as they do not own their own pick in the 2027 NBA draft. Beal is a career 38% three-point shooter and his spacing as well as secondary ball-handling alongside Darius Garland will help the Clippers’ offense flow better. In lineups consisting of a backcourt of Wagler and Beal, the veteran can take attention away from the rookie who is touted as the best shooter in his draft class which can allow for lots of open looks for the future face of the franchise. Beal also demands respect on offense as a shot creators in ways only Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram currently can. As constructed, the rest of the roster consist of solid role players that are not a threat of putting the ball on the floor. Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr can give you elite three-and-D but when it comes to ball handling they are not able to do that at the high level that Beal has shown in the past. The Clippers are hoping to develop Wagler into that level of primary ball handling but that is too much to ask for any incoming rookie to do. Being able to get NBA reps in while initially playing offball to respected veterans such as Garland, Beal, and Ingram will go a long way for the development of the rookie.
As for Bennedict Mathurin, the Clippers do own his rights as a restricted free agent and can match any offer thrown his direction. Considering no team has thrown an offer sheet to the young guard, there may not be a high demand for him and he may be waiting it out for the Clippers to complete their offseason moves to clear a path for his return. Despite the Beal is signing, bringing in both Mathurin and Watson is still financially possible for the Clippers. Considering the overwhelming depth at guard pending the Kawhi trade, the Clippers will be looking to make more moves prior to the season. The surplus of guards currently consists of Darius Garland, Kris Dunn, Bradley Beal, Gradey Dick, Kobe Sanders, Jordan Miller, Keaton Wagler, Cam Christie, and Bennedict Mathurin. Several of these players do have the animality to play the power forward spot, including Beal, but they are all much more natural guards and would produce more in that position. Personally, I believe Cam Christie may find his way out of the Clippers soon. I also believe the Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr will be replaceable upon the acquisition of two-way wing Peyton Watson as their skillsets will be redundant by adding him to the roster.
If the Clippers can complete all these moves, the starting five on opening night (considering in Ty Lue’s coaching) may look to be Garland, Watson, Ingram, Hachimura, and Lopez. I believe Lue would love to have Beal start but he loves even more to have a point-of-attack defender start alongside his point guard to reduce the defensive workload on the primary facilitator, and Watson can be just that for Garland. The bench five can then look to be Wagler, Mathurin, Beal, Jordan Miller, and Kobe Sanders. We may see small-ball minutes with Hachimura at the five pending the return from injury of Yanic Konan-Niederhauser.
The signing of Beal this offseason looked to be a disaster from the start, but it may be very beneficial to this Clippers team. In an attempt to reach the playoffs, adding on a scoring vet than can attack downhill and shoot at a high rate will useful for a team still looking to win. Considering his cheap contract, selling on him whether it be at a high or low point in his season will not be a difficult task. If the Clippers are able to make a playoff push while seeing reliable improvement in the games of Kobe Sanders, Jordan Miller, Bennedict Mathurin, Peyton Watson, and Keaton Wagler, then selling-high on Beal for more future assets will ultimately make this an A+ singing. Until then, we should all be rooting for Beal as the latest signing of the Clippers.