Report: Miami Heat among teams Bradley Beal, agent will speak to

The Heat and Milwaukee Bucks appear to be the two frontrunners for Beal, as of right now.

Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images

The Washington Wizards have officially granted star guard Bradley Beal and his representatives permission to speak to teams in regards to a possible trade, Bleacher Report NBA insider Chris Haynes reported Friday morning.

Haynes reported that the Miami Heat are one of two teams Beal is expected to talk to—the other being the Milwaukee Bucks.

“It's believed Beal will only consider teams with a chance to win,” Haynes wrote. “The Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks are expected to talk with Beal and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, sources say.”

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Wednesday that Beal and the organization would look for a trade for the three-time All-Star if the team sought a rebuild. He labeled the Heat “prominent suitors” for Beal; the two sides have been linked together for over four years.

“The possibility of Beal being moved is as real as it's ever been, one league executive described it,” Haynes said.

Beal has a no-trade clause, which essentially grants him full control of 1.) where he wants to get traded and 2.) the package he gets traded for.

The Miami Heat have multiple big contracts they could offer Washington—Tyler Herro’s in the first year of a four-year, $120 million extension and will make $27 million in 2023-24; Kyle Lowry’s on an expiring $29.7 million deal while Duncan Robinson’s in the second year of a $90 million extension that will pay him $18.2 million this upcoming season.

The Heat could hypothetically trade any of their first-round picks in 2023, 2028, 2029 and 2030, though won’t likely have to include more than one or two picks outright, depending on the asking price and the player package. They also can’t outright trade picks in back-to-back years because of the Stepien Rule (they can swap FRP’s instead).

Acquiring Beal would likely make the Heat a second-apron team; Beal, Butler and Adebayo would be on the books for at least $124.5 million in 2023-24, $133.9 million in 24-25 and $143.2 million (assuming Butler opts into player option) in 25-26, per Spotrac.

The second tax-apron will be $179.5 million in 2023-24, which significantly limits the team’s roster-building methods as the season exceeds that threshold. If it hypothetically became a second-apron team, the Heat—who are at $173.1 million for nine players right now (not including the No. 18 pick, which could put them at $176.5M)—would not be able to use their full mid-level exception ($12.2M) or their taxpayer midlevel ($5M) to acquire talent, leaving just the trade exception ($4.7M) from the Dewayne Dedmon deadline trade.

Miami’s in the driver’s seat with these trade negotiations, though it could be a waiting game since the NBA Draft is this upcoming Thursday while free agency is still two weeks away. It doesn’t appear that Beal has many known suitors, which could change, but then again, it would have to come on Beal’s terms.

If Miami mapped out a deal for Beal that didn’t involve much draft compensation plus a few “bad” contracts to match salary, that would be the best-case scenario. With his no-trade clause, contract and recent injury history (he’s played just 150 games last three seasons combined), don’t be surprised if the soon-to-be 30-year-old gets traded for below-market value.

“I’m just going to tell you this; if the Wizards and Bradley Beal come to a decision that he should be traded because they’re going to start a rebuild, I think people would be stunned at what the price could be,” ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst said earlier this week. “And I don’t mean high. I mean low.

Beal averaged 23.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game last season. He shot 50.6 percent, including 36.5 percent from 3-point range and 84.2 percent from the free-throw line.