Bradley Beal's Future Is Now One Of The Most Intriguing Storylines In The NBA
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As expected the Wizards made their max extension offer to Bradley Beal today. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since their owner literally said they were going to do it the second they were allowed to, but now we sit and wait for a decision. Beal had a pretty ridiculous season last year after John Wall got hurt and after played 77, 82, and 82 games the last three seasons it looks like the injury issues that plagued him when he first entered the league are a thing of the past. At just 26 you could argue that Beal really hasn’t even entered his prime yet and he just put up 25/5/5/1.5 on 47/35% splits in a career high 36.9 minutes a night. To put it simply, he’s a stud and one of the better two way SG’s in the league.
Which is why I can understand if he ends up not signing this 3/111M extension and chooses to bet on himself. You look at the difference in contract money it makes sense
Now is there a chance he gets boned again for All NBA sort of like he did this past season? Sure, but even if he has to sign a new regular contract next summer he makes more than he could now, and if he doesn’t and waits until his current 5/127M deal is up in the summer of 2021, he’s set to make even more. In my mind there’s no reason give up that money at this point. Even if he gets hurt, we just saw KD get a max with a torn achilles and he’s like 4 years older so I’m confident in thinking no matter what happens to Beal as long as it’s not career ending he’s still going to get his max money.
But if he doesn’t sign an extension this year, the question then becomes should the Wizards listen to offers on him. Could this be their opportunity to get out of the Wall contract and unload Beal for a shit ton of assets a la OKC to really jump start a rebuild. That’s the million dollar question I think we can all agree on. As a team that isn’t contending for a title, do they risk losing Beal for nothing if he doesn’t sign this summer. Granted they can still be patient and always trade him at this year’s or next year’s trade deadline so it’s not something they have to handle right away, but you never know what the market will look like at that time.
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We’re always on the lookout to try and predict which star player might be next in terms of getting traded, and guys like Beal and KAT are usually the one’s people talk about. I wouldn’t take Beal not signing this extension as a guarantee he wants out of Washington, but his value might never be higher than it is right now so you have to wonder if new GM Tommy Sheppard prefers to maximize his asset at a time in the NBA where big time players don’t really want to stick around on rebuilding teams.
Either way, Beal’s future now becomes one of the most intriguing storylines of the next year or so, because he’s the caliber of player that could definitely change the future of a contending team if they were to able snag him.