On Thursday, the first day of NBA free agency, Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal struck it rich when he agreed to a massive new contract to stay in the nation’s capital.
All-Star guard Bradley Beal has agreed to a five-year, $251 million maximum contract to stay with the Washington Wizards, his agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022
Beal definitely secured the bag, and the money will ensure that his kids and grandkids will have the means to live an amazing life.
But some things in life are more important than money, and even if one doesn’t agree with that, Beal could’ve gotten almost as much money from another team that could’ve put him in a winning situation right away.
In re-upping with the Wizards, Beal may have killed his last great chance of competing for an NBA championship.
The Wizards Are Stuck In Purgatory
Beal has played his entire 10-year career in Washington, and there was a brief period of time in which it looked like the team had a chance to build something special.
In 2017, it won 49 games and took the Boston Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and the future looked somewhat bright.
The Wizards not only had Beal but also John Wall, who was then in the midst of making the All-Star team five years in a row.
But not too long afterward, Wall tore his Achilles, and they shipped him out in 2020 for Russell Westbrook.
The Westbrook experiment didn’t work too well, and he himself was shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers, leaving Beal to go to war with a bunch of players who were nothing more than decent.
There is little reason to hope the Wizards will be anything more than a play-in tournament team any time soon.
They traded for Kristaps Porzingis during the season, and although he is a good player, he is injury-prone and hasn’t appeared in at least 70 games in a season since his rookie year.
Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, two of the players Washington got for Westbrook, are solid role players, but neither has anything close to star potential.
Perhaps Beal is the type of player who prioritized money over winning a championship, but even men with such priorities don’t want to spend the rest of their career on a bad or mediocre team.
Beal Should’ve Waited
Before Beal agreed to his new contract, he was being linked to a few teams that are possibly one piece away, most notably the Miami Heat.
Where will Bradley Beal play next?👀
• Washington Wizards (-125)
• Miami Heat (+550)
• Los Angeles Lakers (+650)
• Atlanta Hawks (+900)
• Boston Celtics (+1100) pic.twitter.com/ofEeAPq4CQ— ClutchPoints Betting (@CPBetting) June 29, 2022
The Heat would’ve been a good fit for him, as they have needed a true star or superstar to put next to Jimmy Butler.
Miami currently has an aging Kyle Lowry, a post-injury Victor Oladipo, and a standout in Tyler Herro who is due for a contract extension.
The team has a lack of shot creators, and the Boston Celtics were able to expose that problem in the Eastern Conference Finals just a few weeks ago.
Beal could’ve solved that problem while making the Heat a little younger and more bouncy.
Instead, he will be stuck with the woeful Wizards for at least a few more years, and his new contract will take him well into his 30s.
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