Bradley Beal’s career with the Washington Wizards has certainly been long, but it hasn’t been full of success. The Wizards have been stuck in mediocrity for years and the only bright thing about the franchise in recent seasons has been the performance of Beal.
But there is only so much one player can do. He previously had John Wall by his side, who was traded to acquire former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook. In the 2021-22 NBA season, the partnership between Russ and Beal was also broken, as the former was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The franchise has now paired Beal up with Kristaps Porzingis in hopes of finding some success with the duo. Alternatively, there have been many rumors about Beal opting out of his player option and testing the free agency.
He could also sign a contract extension with the Wizards after opting out of his player option. In fact, Beal is tilting towards opting out of his player option and reportedly will sign a 5-year $248 million contract with the Wizards.
This begs the question of is Beal worth that kind of money? Sure, he is a phenomenal player, but he will soon turn 29 years old and didn’t look his best in the 2021-22 NBA season. NBA analyst Bill Simmons recently spoke about it and believes that Beal isn’t worth that much.
Via Sportskeeda:
“Bradley Beal is gonna be 29 in two days. He has three All-Star games in his career. He’s made one All-NBA third team. Probably peaked two to three years ago. He dropped off a little last year. I don’t think he’s somebody who is necessarily gonna get better. To me, he seems like he’s moved into this Ray Allen 2007 stage, where maybe not as valuable as the general public would think. So, Beal’s been in the league 10 years, and my question is – if you’re giving him the super-max, where the h*** are you going? And the Wizards – with the contract history they have – is there any scenario where they go, ‘Wait a second, why did we have to spend all this money on Bradley Beal?”
As Simmons mentioned, the Wizards need to think hard before giving Beal a huge contract. We have seen franchises rush into making this decision and ultimately regret it in the future.
Even if he doesn’t re-sign with the Wizards, there are always other options for him. The Boston Celtics are rumored to be interested in signing Beal. Whatever the future holds for Beal, we will find out very soon.
