Bradley Beal ‘wants to win’ - but reports say he will sign max-contract with Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal has remained loyal to the Washington Wizards, but will he sign an extension or delve into free agency?
The Washington Wizards are a very underachieving and underwhelming franchise. They have a single NBA championship, won in 1978, but have not reached the Conference Finals since '79, the longest drought in the league.
The Charlotte Hornets have zero appearances in their history, but were formed 32 years ago, 11 years later than the Wizards most recent Eastern Conference Finals berth. The next longest drought belongs to the New York Knicks (22 years).
They were close when John Wall was at the peak of his powers, but could not edge past the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern semis in 2016/17.
5 years ago Bradley Beal and John Wall combined for the most points by a duo in the playoffs (63) this duo was lethal. pic.twitter.com/fwAv5Uvv51
— ً (@bealswrld) June 27, 2022
If the Wizards are to contend, they need to keep hold of Beal. But if Beal is to win, he needs to leave, unless Washington can attract some top talent.
Is Beal and Kristaps Porzingis - on top of some handy role players like Rui Hachimura, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma - enough to win? You never know. But they need a point guard, and they need one fast.
Speaking about free agency, Beal recently told Taylor Rooks for Bleacher Report:
"Obviously, I consider my family. What do they wanna do? Where do they wanna live? What are they comfortable with? And, obviously, the team.
Bradley Beal as a Wizard:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 26, 2022
22.1 PPG
4.1 RPG
4.2 APG
3x All Star
1x All-NBA
The only active player averaging 22/4/4 or better on less than 2.5 turnovers. pic.twitter.com/SdESxzr5F3
"So, it is surreal in a lot of ways to be in the position I am in. It is crazy numbers. It is what it is. It's uncontrollable. It's out of my control. But I'm blessed to be here. Again, I don't shy away from that. I take it on with a full front and I have to do what's best for me.
"There is a little anxiety because I have to make the decision and time is counting down. We're in June now. But it's fun to be in this position.
"I know what my decision will be based off of, and that's gonna be where I feel like I can win. That's going to be my decision. If I feel like I can win in DC, that's what I'm gonna do. I want people to respect that."
He wants to win. He said it. Straight up.
However, if the rumours are to be believed, the Florida Gators graduate will opt out of his current $36.4million deal to re-sign on a five-year max worth at least $246 million (depending on where next year's salary cap falls).
Bradley Beal is 'very likely' to opt out of his $36.4M player option and re-sign with the Wizards on a five-year max contract, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/zGyDinoLv2
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 26, 2022
This is according to the very reliable Adrian Wojnarowski, who states that this scenario is 'very likely'.
Although he has a desire to win, like 99.9 per cent of the league, Beal can rake in a quarter of a billion dollars, and if things aren't going to plan, he can request a trade further down the line.