According to Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, the Boston Celtics may have interest in signing former All-NBA guard Bradley Beal in free agency this offseason.
“Bradley Beal has got several options,” Fischer said during a Jul. 21 livestream on Bleacher Report. “I was told today that Beal’s decision is not exactly being held up by LeBron [James], but it is being impacted by it. Because I do think there’s some Miami interest there. I wouldn’t rule out Boston for Beal because of the connection with Jayson Tatum. I even asked about that today, and I was not told to rule out Boston, so there you go.”
Beal played six games for the Los Angeles Clippers last season before undergoing hip surgery. In those games, he averaged 8.2 points and 1.7 assists while shooting 37.5% from the field and 36.8% from deep.
The Celtics shouldn't sign Bradley Beal
Just to get this out of the way, there are some reasons signing Beal could be intriguing to the Celtics: 1) he's best friends with Jayson Tatum, 2) he is an elite shooter (shot 40.7% from deep in two seasons with the Phoenix Suns as a No. 2/3 option, and 3) even though he's not the same guy he was with the Washington Wizards, he can still play.
But is it really in Boston's best interest to use their final roster spot on a 33-year-old who is incredibly injury-prone (he has played 60 or more seasons just once since the 2018-29 season -- 60 in 2020-21) and is a shell of what he once was? No. Plus, signing Beal would likely move Boston over the tax line, even if it's on a veteran's minimum.
Beal could probably provide some solid basketball with the Celtics, but this isn't a move worth making. They're better off keeping that last roster spot open and waiting for someone to stand out (most likely a player on a two-way contract, or maybe someone like John Tonje), especially since they already have Paul George and Mitchell Robinson to worry about on the injury front.
The Celtics don't need Bradley Beal
It's also not like the Celtics need to take a chance on the St. Louis native. They should be a fine team without him, and signing him could mess with the development of guys like Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, and Ron Harper Jr.
If there's one thing Boston has going for themselves right now, it's that there are a lot of intriguing young players who could step up and make a name for themselves next season with Jaylen Brown no longer on the roster.
Signing Beal negates a lot of that. He can still provide some value at the NBA level (remember, the biggest reasons Suns fans were begging for him to move on from Beal were his questionable fit next to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, injury concerns, and his contract, not necessarily that he was a bum), but he and the Celtics would be better off if he tried to prove that somewhere else.
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