Bradley Beal is getting a fresh start in Los Angeles, but his success depends on one thing: being allowed to play his game. That’s the message from longtime agent Mark Bartelstein, who made it clear that the Clippers need to give Beal the green light if they want to unlock his full potential. After a rocky stint with the Phoenix Suns, Beal is now hoping to revive his career as a featured member of the Clippers’ new-look starting five.
“He is always going to play the right way. He’s always going to be selfless,” said Bartelstein in a chat with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. “But if you have Brad Beal on your team, you have to let him be Brad Beal. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense and you’re not getting the best version of him.”
Beal, 32, is coming off one of the worst stretches of his NBA career, which ended this summer when he agreed to a buyout with the Phoenix Suns. While he refused to give up a single penny in the buyout negotiations, Bartelstein insists that Beal’s top priority remains winning.
“Brad is one of the most selfless players that I’ve ever been around,” Bartelstein said. “Brad is going to do whatever it takes to win. But the point of the matter is this guy is a very, very special player. He’s a very special talent. You can’t average 30 points in this league twice at the efficiency level that he did it at without being one of the very, very best there is.”
Beal’s short-lived tenure with the Suns was widely considered a failure. In 53 games last season, he saw career lows in usage and shot attempts as his stats fell to 17.0 points and 3.7 assists per game. He struggled to find a rhythm behind Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and failed to find his voice in the locker room.
Now that he’s free from Phoenix, Beal is eager to start fresh with the Clippers—on a team he believes is the right fit for his skills and mindset. Before his first game in Los Angeles, he’s making it known that the formula for success involves more ball-handling, shot creation, and offensive freedom than he ever saw in Phoenix.
At his peak, Beal was a beast for the Washington Wizards and one of the top offensive guards in the game. During the 2020-21 campaign, he averaged 31.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game on 48.5% shooting. He was a 3x All-Star from 2017-2021, two years removed from his dramatic breakup with the Wizards.
To bring out the best in Beal, the Clippers will have to let him attack downhill, take the ball in isolation, and utilize pick-and-roll action for clean and efficient shots. As he works to build chemistry with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, Beal will need the freedom to carve out his role within the offense.
While there are some concerns about the Clippers’ trajectory, most can agree that Beal makes an ideal fit for the Clippers due to his shot-making, offensive diversity, and veteran leadership. As Beal prepares to join, his agent says the key to unlocking his potential is giving him full freedom to be himself on the court.
For the Clippers, unlocking the best version of Bradley Beal could be the key to contending in the Western Conference. But that only happens if they follow his agent’s advice and give him the space and the trust to be the player he knows he can still be.
