NBA news: Bradley Beal reveals why he renewed Washington Wizards contract
- Jason Soutar
- 7 December 2022
Wizards guard Bradley Beal has said signing a new contract in Washington was the “best option on the table at the time”.
Beal signed a five-year, $251,019,650, contract during the off-season after much speculation about his future with the Wizards.
While Beal was always expected to commit to the Wizards, there were some rumours that he could move elsewhere, like the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics.
It is one of the biggest contracts in NBA history, and involves a no-trade clause, which means he has the chance to veto any potential trade he is involved in.
This deal made Beal the only active NBA player with this clause. That is a pretty big deal.
In his first year, the 29-year-old will earn over $43m and has a player option for the 2026-27 season.
The contract certainly raised many an eyebrow, with fans pondering why the Wizards would give such a monstrous contract to Beal, while others questioned the player's motivation to win an NBA title, something he is very unlikely to do in Washington.
One thing that is for sure is that Beal's bank account is going to look very healthy for a very long time.
While he insists the payslip is not why he renewed, Beal has revealed that he did not have a team come in for him that would have given him the opportunity to "win".
Bradley Beal says that the only reason he didn’t leave the Wizards this Summer is because a winning team didn’t make an offer for him 😭 pic.twitter.com/mBrhhhk8Qa
— Unbiased NBA Fan (@nonbiasednbafan) December 5, 2022
"There were no teams in the market, free agency-wise," Beal told Gilbert Arenas. "I'm just being frank.
"There was nowhere else for me to go where I can be like, 'Oh, I can go win.' It was teams that strategically wasn't what I wanted.
"So realistically, I wouldn't say my hand was forced, but this was my best decision and best option on the table at the time."
