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Boston Celtics Rumors: 3 superstars that could be traded for this offseason

By Owen Crisafulli

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 07: Jayson Tatum (L) #10 and Bradley Beal #4 of the 2021 USA Basketball Men's National Team laugh after a practice at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV as the team gets ready for the Tokyo Olympics on July 7, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 07: Jayson Tatum (L) #10 and Bradley Beal #4 of the 2021 USA Basketball Men's National Team laugh after a practice at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV as the team gets ready for the Tokyo Olympics on July 7, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Boston Celtics
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 29: Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Boston Celtics Trade Target No. 2: Bradley Beal

By now, most Boston Celtics fans should know the history between Jayson Tatum and Bradley Beal. The lifelong friends grew up together in St. Louis, and were almost always found on opposite sides of the court when it came to basketball. Now that they have gotten the opportunity to play with each other on Team USA, both players seem to be relishing it.

As a result of their longstanding friendship, it would make sense if both stars were open to teaming up in the NBA and working towards a championship together. We see it all around the NBA nowadays, and there’s no doubt in my mind both Tatum and Beal have seen the recent trend across the league and discussed the possibility with each other, especially given how much time they are spending with each other on Team USA.

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A team up between the two Missouri boys would be a fun watch for Celtics fans. Beal’s production reached a new level in Washington over the past two seasons, as he has averaged over 30 points per game in consecutive seasons now. He’s an elite scorer of the ball from all three levels of the floor, and would bring in a third scoring option alongside Tatum and Brown that was missing for so much of last season.

While Beal functions more as a shooting guard rather than a point guard, he could fill Boston’s now gaping hole at the guard position after trading away Kemba Walker. His assist numbers plummeted this past season, but that can probably be chalked up to the lack of options he had around him for the most part.

Tatum and Brown function much better as off-ball options rather than someone conducting the offense. Bringing in a guy like Beal helps take that pressure off of them immediately, as he often led the offense in Russell Westbrook‘s absence this past season. His ability to create shots for himself, while also initiating it to help Tatum and Brown find shots, would easily help kickstart Boston’s offense.

Defensively, Beal is also a bit of an upgrade compared to the outgoing Walker. He won’t win you games on defense in a way a guy like Marcus Smart can, but he’s also not going to be able to get picked on constantly like Walker was for most of his tenure in Boston.

Even with the Wizards hot finish to the season, the Beal-to-Boston rumors won’t cool down, and him and Tatum hanging out in Japan probably won’t help either. It will require a hefty fee, but it may just be worth it to allow Tatum and Beal to finally team up with each other rather than working on defeating each other for once.

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