Something that has been lost in all of the talk about the coronavirus pandemic as the NBA gets set to resume its season in Orlando next month has been the potential for injuries.
We haven't seen basketball since mid-March, so for the 22 teams that will be heading to Disney World, there is considerable risk involved after having not seen live game action for so long.
The Washington Wizards are well aware of that, which is why they will be treating Bradley Beal carefully:
“I don't want to look too far ahead on any player. Certainly, with Bradley we're going to be very protective of him, but of all of our players. This is a different, unique ramp-up,” said general manager Tommy Sheppard, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “[It's never happened] where the entire league really has not played a game at all during this entire stretch or have the opportunity to practice as an NBA team. … When I talk about Bradley Beal playing in Orlando, I've gotta worry about Bradley Beal working out here as we get ready to go to Orlando.”
Beal is unquestionably the Wizards' best player, particularly with John Wall still rehabbing a torn Achilles. Not only that, but Washington handed Beal a two-year contract extension back in October.
Taking all of that into consideration, it's no surprise that the Wizards are being extra cautious with how they work their star shooting guard back into action.
Beal is averaging 30.5 points, 6.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals over 36.0 minutes per game while shooting 45.5 percent from the floor, 35.3 percent from 3-point range and 84.2 percent from the free-throw line this season.
Washington went 24-40 before the NBA season was suspended, but snuck into the NBA's resumption by being 5.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic. The Wizards will try to work their way into a play-in scenario by getting within four games of the No. 8 seed after the eight seeding games are played.
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