The Washington Wizards aim to be a competitive team while point guard John Wall is out and Thomas Bryant, Rui Hachimura and Troy Brown Jr. develop, which is why the franchise wants to keep shooting guard Bradley Beal.
Beal has two years left on his contract. The Wizards offered the All-Star guard an extension worth around $111 million last week, but Beal is not expected to sign it since he can make more money next summer if he makes an All-NBA team in 2019-20.
A Wizards executive says keeping Beal in Washington “keeps us competitive while the kids learn.”
“It’s easy to say, ‘They should have traded Bradley Beal,' but it’s not that easy to do. If we trade him, we’re telling our fans that this is it for the year,” the Wizards exec told Keith Smith of Real GM. “We like our kids in Thomas Bryant, Rui Hachimura and Troy Brown Jr., but we haven’t had a high pick in a while. So, we’re rebuilding without that benefit. Beal keeps us competitive while the kids learn. That’s important.”
Bradley Beal will make $27 million next season and nearly $29 million in 2020-21. He averaged 25.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists this past season for the Wizards while shooting 47.5 percent from the field, 35.1 percent from beyond the arc and 80.8 percent from the free-throw line.
The only way the Wizards are going to trade Beal is if they get a monster return, similar to the one the Oklahoma City Thunder got for All-Star small forward Paul George.
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