Chris Russell spent almost all of Monday’s show discussing the pending Bradley Beal trade, and in part of his rants about it, Rooster vehemently disagreed with everyone who thought Beal should’ve been dealt two years ago.
However, when he posited that idea on Twitter, Craig Hoffman, who of course follows Russell on air, shot back at Rooster’s Tweet, and that led to some cross-talk!
During his show, Chris Tweeted (and said): “I have ZERO idea how everyone is running around saying the Wizards should have traded Brad Beal two years ago. Was coming off back-to-back 30-plus PPG seasons and a playoff berth.
How did that make sense? You guys would have killed Ted.”How did that make sense? U guys would have killed Ted.”
Well, Craig shot back, saying, “If you can’t figure this out by the end of the show, let me know. I will happily explain it to you.”
That led Rooster to invite Hoffman on air…and that’s exactly what he did!
“Did the Wizards have a way to win an NBA Title with Beal on the roster two years ago, or a path to acquire another star to do so?” Hoffman asked. “History says, at least since 1980, that other than the 2004 Pistons, you have to have a Top 5 player – and I think we all agree Beal is not that. So, if you think Beal is not good enough to be the best player on a championship team, you need a path to acquire a player better than Beal in the timeline of Beal’s prime. You have to maximize your assets, so if he’s not the best player and you can’t acquire one, you use him to acquire the assets to be able to get one.”
Basically, if Beal wasn’t good enough to win, he needed to be good enough to get some of the pieces needed to win.
Russell’s response?
“If you’re saying the only logical way to win an NBA Title is to have a Top 5 player on your roster, that eliminates almost all of the teams in the NBA,” Russell said. “Like, look at Jimmy Butler.”
“He was as close as we’ve gotten to an exception, and that’s why what the Heat did this season was remarkable, and no one saw them coming,” Hoffman replied.
Rooster than invoked Damian Lillard, who he and Hoffman agreed is “a Top 10 player without the supporting pieces,” and thought that maybe that’s what the Wizards were trying to do: take a very good player and surround him with the cast to make a deep run, and then hope for the best.
“You said a bunch of stuff but undercut it: Damian Lillard is better than Bradley Beal, and better than Beal by quite a lot,” Hoffman replied. “Lillard is a seven-time All-NBA player and seven-time All-Star; Beal has three All-Stars and maybe one All-NBA nod. Philosophically, what you said is true, but that implies Beal is at a level Lillard is at, and that’s not true. He could be the second option around the right guy, especially at his peak, but he’s not Lillard.”
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In essence, to Hoffman, it’s a market play – even if the reason you don’t want to trade Beal is the exact reason to do it.
“There was no path to get there, no move to be made outside of getting lucky in the draft, and that’s why not trading him when he had max value was a mistake,” Hoffman said. “You trade when the value is high and buy low, but instead, they are selling at the absolute lowest, and buying nothing in return.”
Hoffman understands some people may have been upset had the Wizards done that, but on the whole, the reaction would’ve been joy for those who understood the situation.
You kind of have to hear it all, because this intra-squad scrimmage was a DOOZY – take a listen to the whole kit and caboodle above!
Follow Chris Russell on Twitter: @Russellmania621
Follow The Hoffman Show on Twitter: @CraigHoffman & @HoffmanShow
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