For all of you watching the Bradley Beal saga play out in Washington, waiting for your team to jump in and trade for the 26-year-old All-Star wing...
Sorry.
Nothing has changed: The league is watching, the Wizards have a three-year, $111 million extension offer on the table that Beal is almost certainly not going to sign, and Washington still has zero plans to trade him. That’s all been the case for a while now, and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN updated it with a report on an NBA preview show Thursday.
Around the league, teams are monitoring the situation and if he becomes available there will be a long line of suitors (watch for Denver to make an aggressive move). The Wizards remain uninterested.
Some fans think Beal will demand a trade. Don’t bet on it. Beal wants a supermax contract extension — five years, $250 million — but only the Wizards can give him that money, and only if he makes an All-NBA team (or is named MVP). Beal finished seventh in All-NBA guard voting last season and don’t be shocked if, on a bad team, he puts up huge numbers and goes after one of the six All-NBA guard spots this season.
Beal has two years, $55.8 million left on his current contract. He can sign a four-year extension next summer, or wait until 2021 when he is a free agent and sign a five-year, $214 million ($43 million per year) with the Wizards or leave and sign a four-year, $159 million ($40 million a season) contract with another team.
The only reason for Beal to sign the current $111 million extension offer is security.
The Wizards are trying a re-tooling on the fly, not a complete rebuild, and they want Beal at the heart of it. Maybe that changes. Maybe if Beal looks like he will make All-NBA the Wizards realize they don’t want to pay him that much. Maybe Beal changes his mind and wants out. Maybe a lot of things, but none of them are reality right now.
Right now, Beal is going to remain a Washington Wizard.