When you start 2-15 (3-15 with tonight’s win over NO that just went final) like the Washington Wizards have, you can’t be surprised when stories like this leak out of your front office. Per CBSSports.com (courtesy of the Washington Post), the Wizards turned down an Oklahoma City proposal that would have sent James Harden to D.C. in exchange for rookie guard Bradley Beal and 2nd-year forward Chris Singleton because the Wizards did not want to pay Harden the kind of money that he eventually got from the Rockets.
The Washington Post reports that the Thunder were very high on Beal, and spent a lot of time with him before the draft. Neither the Thunder or the Wizards chose to comment on the record about this rumored trade, but some Wizards fans will certainly wonder what could have been with a healthy John Wall pairing up with James Harden in the backcourt.
Even though the Wizards are now suffering through a horrendous start to their season, the news about the team rejecting a trade for a player like Harden does come with a silver lining.
The Wizards still have Bradley Beal, a player that Thunder GM Sam Presti wanted. Presti is the man who drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, and James Harden. Given Presti’s eye for talent in the draft, Wizards fans may soon realize that their front office still ended up with an elite backcourt mate to pair with John Wall when they decided to keep Bradley Beal.