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Super team dream: Tatum, Lillard, and Beal

Could Brad Stevens put together his own Big 3 in his first year?

Team USA Basketball Training Session Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

This will never happen, but it is fun to dream isn’t it?

With the onslaught of images from Team USA and the rumblings surrounding each player and their recruiting efforts, it is only natural for a green-eyed fan to daydream about what it would look like to have Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, and Jayson Tatum all on the same team. I repeat, this will never happen, ...but just for the sake of having some fun with it, how could it happen?

Well the first thing is that you have to immediately accept that doing this would cost us Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams, other players, and every possible draft pick and draft swap allowable under the CBA. I’m sure there are dozens of potential permeations to this kind of deal, but here’s what I came up with that at least works in terms of matching salaries.

The thought process is that Brown and Nesmith might be a better offer than the Blazers can get elsewhere. Brown is an All-Star who’s only getting better. In fact, the only way I would personally sign off on a deal involving Brown is if we are indeed putting together a larger win-now super team. Otherwise, I’d rather build around Tatum and Brown.

As for the Wizards side, it is legitimately a reboot of their franchise. We would probably have to include additional pick swaps (and even then we could potentially get outbid by someone like New Orleans). Perhaps the only chance this part of the deal happens is if Beal puts it out there that the only team he’d re-sign with is Boston.

I’m sure this would put the Celtics deep in the tax for years to come. It would put us in draft pick debt for a long time and the success would hinge on Dame’s health as he ages (something that hasn’t exactly worked out for our last few undersized point guards). But you don’t have a lot of chances to put together a super team and this is the kind of team that could measure up favorably with a fully healthy Nets team.

Again, this isn’t happening except in my dreams and it is mostly a thought exercise. So I’ll now turn it over to you to give me all the 1,001 ways this is stupid and will never happen in the comments section below.

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