Boston Celtics

Is there any chance Wizards star Bradley Beal could join the Celtics?

It's highly unlikely short-term, but it may be a possibility long-term.

Bradley Beal is the NBA's leading scorer. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

By Trevor Hass

March 6, 2021

2 minutes to read

Jayson Tatum and Bradley Beal go way back and are forever bonded by their St. Louis roots.

Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer, served as a mentor for Tatum as he’s risen to stardom himself.

Despite their closeness, they’ve never played on the same team. That will change Sunday night, however, as they start in the All-Star Game alongside Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, and Joel Embiid on Team Durant.

Many Celtics fans are hoping this is the first of many times that Beal and Tatum join forces on the court. While the Celtics may need another star to leapfrog the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers and become legitimate NBA championship contenders, it’s highly unlikely Beal will be that missing piece this season.

Beal recently signed a contract extension through 2023, with a player option for 2022, and is owed $28.8 million this season. The Celtics’ $28.5 million traded player exception is just shy of allowing them to absorb Beal’s contract, so odds of him coming to Boston this season are slim to none.

The long-term chances of it happening, however, are somewhat more promising for the Celtics. NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg referenced how Anthony Davis zeroed in on LeBron James and made it clear he wanted to play there and James Harden pinpointed the Nets.

If Beal decides he definitively wants to team up with Tatum, Forsberg believes it isn’t farfetched to think it could happen within the next few years.

“With every 40-point game that he gets frustrated and loses, he can say, ‘You know, I want to go play with Jayson Tatum in Boston. In fact, that’s the only place I want to go,'” Forsberg said.

Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington isn’t quite as sold on the notion of Beal joining the Celtics at any point.

“There’s no way Bradley Beal’s going to Boston, I’ll just tell you that,” Miller said. “Bradley’s not going anywhere. He’s heard over the last two years every team it seems like’s fanbase courting Bradley Beal. And why not? This guy is the leading scorer in the league, he has developed into one of the best players in the league, and offensively he is literally unguardable.”

Miller said it’s possible a phone call has happened, and the Celtics have inquired about Beal, but he doesn’t see it as a realistic option. The Celtics are so high on Tatum and Jaylen Brown, he said, that it would take a lot of finagling for them to give one of them up.

He pointed out that Tatum wants to be the top guy, and Beal is the top guy, so it might not actually work on the court because of how much room Tatum still has to grow.

“Jayson’s just scratching the surface of how great he could be,” Miller said. “I just don’t see that happening.”

Harrison Barnes, Myles Turner, and Jerami Grant, among others, are currently considered potential targets for the Celtics.