The Washington Wizards are a team that will be of interest to others around the NBA in the coming weeks and months. The situation with Bradley Beal could change the landscape of the entire league.
Beal has had some struggles this season shooting the ball from 3-point range, making a career-low 29.8 percent. Despite that, he is still a star player, averaging 23.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and a career-high 6.4 assists per game. He is just as capable of being a lead distributor as a go-to scorer now.
He is an extremely valuable piece to the Wizards’ success not only this season but heading into the future. What he plans to do in the future will set the course for the franchise for at least the next half-decade.
Beal could hit the free-agent market this summer. You cannot blame the Wizards or their fans for being a little nervous about that. While the Wizards and Beal are committed to each other right now, there is nothing set in stone beyond that.
The Washington Wizards and Bradley Beal are committed to each other at least through this season. Beyond that remains up in the air. Despite that, Washington isn’t talking about trading their franchise player yet.
Beal has made it clear he won’t sign an extension, as that would leave too much money on the table. Beal has also sent signals he’ll opt out of his deal this summer. That would allow Beal to sign a long-term deal, likely starting at his max salary of over $41 million.
From Beal’s perspective, this isn’t a great summer to be hitting free agency. If he truly wanted to gauge what was out there beyond the Washington Wizards, he likely wouldn’t find much.
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There aren’t many teams projected to have cap space this summer, which is an advantage for Washington. They won’t have as many teams to compete with to retain Beal long-term.
The Wizards are in a tough predicament because they want to remain as competitive this season as possible. But, to upgrade the roster, they likely have to part with some assets. Those are assets that would help lay the foundation of the future should Beal decide to opt-out of his contract and sign elsewhere.
Until Beal puts pen to paper on a deal with the Washington Wizards, there will be some worries for them. To quell those worries, they need to keep playing good basketball.
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Bradley Beal wants to see that the organization is capable of building a winning roster. If they can qualify for the postseason and win a series, it would make the decision for Beal to return that much easier.
