Bradley Beal is staying put. The three-time All-Star agreed to re-sign with the Washington Wizards on a five-year supermax deal worth $251 million. It’s a move that many expected after he opted out of a $36.4 million player option for next season.
Beal has spent 10 seasons with Washington, the team that drafted him third overall in 2012. Now he is under contract for an additional five years.
He has been the cornerstone of the Wizards franchise since John Wall was traded in 2020.
While the Wizards front office and fans are excited to have Beal back, the ESPN’s NBA Today panel wasn’t too thrilled about the 29-year old picking the Wizards over a chance to win.
Tim Legler, who once played for the Wizards franchise, said if Beal plays out the entire five-year deal, he will possibly never really played on a relevant team.
“I just think this was, to me, his opportunity to hit free agency and go,” Legler said. “You’re still gonna take what four yours, 200 [million dollars] or something like that to somewhere else but maybe put yourself in a position where you’re playing games in April, May and June potentially.
“And It just didn’t seem like that was something that he was interested in. He’s very happy where he’s at, I guess, but now he’s going to be in relative obscurity for 15 years, probably.”
In recent years, Beal has been at the forefront of trade rumors. Reports suggested just about any and every contender was interested in him. Even when it appeared he was set to stay with the Wizards, rumors kept buzzing.
Through the past three or so years, the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers have led the pack of rumors for Beal. ESPN’s analyst Zach Lowe feels the Wizards missed out on a chance to trade Beal and reset the trajectory of the team.
“I think the Wizards missed the boat on trading Bradley,” Lowe stated. “I think it was with two years left on his deal or something like that when his value [was] at an all-time high. And this contract, I think it’s gonna be hard to get great value for Brad Beal if as Bobby said he ever goes to them and says, ‘I want out of here.'”
It’s hard to imagine Beal passing up $251 million, even if it means he may never truly play for an NBA title. His time with Wall seemingly was the team’s peak with Beal thus far. The Wizards made the postseason four of out five seasons, reaching the second round three times.
However, since Wall injured his Achilles in late 2019, a Beal-led Wizards team has made the postseason once the past four years, and the Wiz haven’t won more than 35 games in any given season.
Kendrick Perkins questioned Beal’s motives and potential legacy moving forward.
“The next two or three years is going to say a lot about Bradley Beal,” Perkins chimed. “I’m okay with you accepting the money and accepting the contract right now, the supermax and getting $251 million. Because you only 29 years of age. I’m looking at a person prime usually range from what 27 years of age to about 35…
“Bradley Beal has about five great years of basketball left. Okay maybe you’re trying out for two years. But in two years if this hasn’t worked out, and you don’t come to the table and say that you want out and you want to get to a contender, then that’s going to show and always leave that question mark. Whether you were really a winner or had the winning mentality.”
The Wizards have been stuck in purgatory for quite some time, even going back to when Wall and Beal led the team together. They have been bad but not bad enough. They haven’t quite been a serious contender, but they haven’t been terribly bad to land a top-four pick in recent years.
With his re-signing the Wizards are over the luxury tax, making it more difficult to add reliable marquee players around him without a blockbuster trade. Washington is hoping last season’s additions Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis will provide a big three makeover with Beal.
Even after adding Monte Morris, Will Barton and Delon Wright this offseason, the Wizards aren’t a top-five team in the Eastern Conference according to most projections. As Legler said, barring a major jump in the coming years, Beal could be the most irrelevant star in the NBA.
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