The LA Clippers finally have a scoring guard they can trust to run the offense when James Harden sits. Bradley Beal is officially in town.
Beal signed a two-year, 13.17 million dollar deal with the Clippers on August 13, joining an LA roster that has just been through one of the more chaotic offseasons in the league. Kawhi Leonard is gone to the Toronto Raptors. Norman Powell got moved. The team’s identity is being rebuilt on the fly.
The Beal signing is a smart, if unglamorous, part of that rebuild. The Clippers were desperate for shot creation. Beal, even in the diminished version of himself that showed up in Phoenix, can still get a bucket. He can shoot from three, he can midrange, and he understands how to play off other stars.
That last part matters. Beal’s time with the Phoenix Suns was a disaster in part because he never quite figured out how to coexist with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. He was a decent complementary piece in stretches, but the fit never really clicked, and the trade market for his contract eventually forced Phoenix to move him at a heavy discount.
Now he lands in a role that actually suits him. James Harden is the offensive centerpiece. Beal does not have to be the guy. He just has to be a reliable veteran option in the pick-and-roll, off the ball, and in late-clock situations.
At his best, Beal was a three-time All-Star averaging 30 points a game in Washington. He is nowhere close to that version anymore. But he does not need to be. Averaging 16 to 18 points and shooting a respectable percentage from three would be a huge win for the Clippers.
The other advantage of Beal at this price is roster flexibility. At just over 6 million dollars per year, he is essentially the taxpayer midlevel exception. The Clippers still have room to sign additional pieces, chase buyout candidates, and stay flexible around Harden and Ivica Zubac. That was not always going to be the case with the way Kawhi’s contract used to eat up their books.
For Beal, this is a career reset. He voluntarily waived his no-trade clause in Phoenix. He took a pay cut to come to LA. He is trying to prove that his time as a legitimate NBA rotation piece is not over.
The Clippers, meanwhile, are trying to convince their fan base that the Kawhi era ending is not the end of the world. They still have Harden. They still have Zubac. They just added Beal. Their coach, Tyronn Lue, remains one of the best in the business at squeezing production out of veterans.
Will it be enough to make a serious playoff run? Probably not. But it puts them in the mix, keeps them respectable, and buys the front office another year to figure out the next phase.
Beal in a Clippers jersey is a low-risk, medium-reward signing. If it works, LA is a top-eight team in the West. If it does not, they cut bait next summer and try again. That is a fine outcome either way.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
