Bradley Beal: Trading Up for Florida Guard Would Be a Terrible Idea for Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder became the best young team in the NBA by making smart draft picks over the last five years, so why would they take a foolish risk and trade proven talent for the ability to draft Florida guard Bradley Beal?
Beal is a quality player and projects to be a solid scorer at the NBA level, but should Thunder general manager Sam Presti give up a star like James Harden or Serge Ibaka to move in the draft to take the Gators star? No, that would be incredibly foolish.
According to ESPN.com's Andy Katz, the Western Conference champs are one of the teams pondering a trade into the lottery for Beal.
"Beal told ESPN.com Wednesday that Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti told him during an interview in Chicago that he was interested in trying to move up to draft him. The Thunder's first-round pick isn't until No. 28. "He told me he was going to decide what they're going to do and considered getting up there," Beal said.
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Further down in the article, Katz talks about Harden.
"To get Beal, the Thunder would undoubtedly have to move James Harden, the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.
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Harden and Ibaka have one more year left on their current deals and then they are eligible for a qualifying offer.
The Thunder should keep Harden and sign him to a long-term deal. He and Ibaka will need new long-term contracts soon, but Harden ultimately has more value to OKC now and in the future than Ibaka does.
Harden struggled throughout the NBA Finals but has more offensive and defensive potential than Beal does.
The Thunder cannot look at Harden's performance against the Miami Heat in the Finals too closely when determining their plans for his future with the team. Young players cannot be expected to shine on that kind of stage when they have never been there before.
Trading a potential superstar in Harden for a player who has never played a minute in pro basketball is a terrible idea and would be a surprising move by a GM like Presti who is very smart and doesn't make foolish player decisions.
Trading up in the first round to draft Beal and losing Harden at the same time would be an unpopular move with the fans and a massive blow to the Thunder's chances of winning the NBA Finals going forward.
If OKC is going to trade a star guard in the offseason, it should be Westbrook and not Harden. Beal will be a fine NBA player, but trading up for him is simply not worth the price.
Nicholas Goss is an NBA Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report
