Ya, ya, I know the homers will not like this, but we would truly have an elite back court with Dame & Beal. I’m not a fan of the Dame / CJ duo. Quite frankly, it’s never worked (as a duo) being more effective when either one are on the court without the other. But Dame playing with Beal would be flat out scary in my opinion. It’s my prediction that Dame and CJ won’t retire together as Blazers in any case. So build a team that will go out and win a title! Now!
I'm for Portland exploring trade opportunities with CJ....and Beal is a better player than CJ however, he's not enough better to be worth risking the disruption. There's a downside to every trade and I'd suspect the downside to this trade would be about equal to the upside If Portland trades CJ I want them to get a clear upgrade in either current talent, fit, or upside. this is just too lateral a move to be worth the risk IMO
So if you believe Portland has an elite back court with Lillard & CJ it makes you a homer? Lol, okay.
I would of course advise Dame but never put him in a position of “asking” him; this would not be fair to his friendship. If Neil could pull off a trade that would better this team, no apology needed (either)! Dame/Beal just may be championship caliber. Why does Washington do it? Because Beal wants out! It’s a sidewise trade on paper, but CJ may also flourish by a change of scenery as well.
Right? I was like HOOOLY SHIIIT!!!! as I opened the thread. Then I realized it was... well, what this is.....
Regardless of who you think is better, they are in the same tier. The difference making the trade isn't big enough to do it. Let's not forget that Bradley Beal is also consistently injured. I'm all for trading CJ, but I don't think Beal changes things much for us. I also wouldn't be completely against it. It's far from the home run I'd like at this point.
I think Beals incredibly over rated, him and wall have accomplished less than CJ and Dame. I know what the stats say, and Beal might be a better fit here, but Im not nearly as quick to say he’s so good as everyone else does. They won 32 games last year (IN THE EAST), Beal played in all of them. Also his DPBM -1 last year never had a positive one, he’s really not a lot better than CJ on that end and not a ton better offensively. Beal may be a minor upgrade, but thats all it would be, and you risk losing the chemistry that Dame / CJ have.
The last 3 seasons Beal has played 77, 82, and 82 games. I think he's shook the injury label. The Wizards are a joke of a franchise. Beal would dominate if you simply switched him and CJ. I'm not saying he's way better but he'd be a perfect compliment to Dame. Beal actually passes the ball too.
I've mentioned this in another thread a few weeks ago and @hoopsjock mentioned it a few minutes ago. Beal has played nearly every game the last 3 seasons.
