Several years after Bradley Bell was linked with a potential move to the Boston Celtics, the All-Star guard is finally available. However, according to Jake Fisher from Yahoo SportsBoston is unlikely to throw his hat in the ring, despite Bell’s well-documented friendship with Jason Tatum.
“Don’t count on Boston getting into the conversation of Bill’s trade,” Fisher wrote. The Celtics intend to move forward with the All-NBA Team along with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, despite Bill’s prodigious talent and close relationship with Tatum, a friendship that goes back to his childhood roots in St. Louis.
On Wednesday, June 14th Shams Al-Shaaraniyyah reported from the athletes that Washington Wizards He’ll work with Beal in order to find him a deal if the team decides to hit the reset button and go into a full-scale rebuild.
The Wizards finished the regular season as the 12th seed, despite having a massive payroll that includes both Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, along with the impressive Kyle Kuzma.
Looking beyond the discussion of Bradley Bell, Fisher’s report is noteworthy because, if true, it puts Jaylen Brown’s speech to bed. Since Celtic’s season ended after Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, discussion of Brown’s future with the Celtics has been rife – as it has been in every season, it seems.
After being named to the 2023 All-NBA Second Team, Brown became eligible for a specific extension for veterans, colloquially known as a supermax. However, with Tatum also eligible for a mega-contract in the offing, there have been some concerns about whether the Celtics would commit such a large portion of their cap space to two players.
Part of that concern is due to the new collective bargaining agreement, which will introduce a second taxing arena that includes multiple penalties for teams above said parking lot. These penalties will also become more stringent for repeaters. As such, teams that fall into the new second battleground will be limited in how they build their roster, thus limiting their ability to stay competitive in the free agency and buyout market.
Throughout Brown and Tatum’s time in Boston, the Celtics have been among the best teams in the NBA and have consistently endured deep postseason cycles. As such, it only makes sense that Brad Stephens would want to keep his star duo together, knowing that the team is getting closer to winning the elusive 18th championship banner.