Bradley Beal is looking to get paid like max player this offseason
Bradley Beal wants to get paid, and hopes the Wizards can make that happen
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2 min read
By hiring Scott Brooks in late April, the Washington Wizards completed one of their major tasks for their offseason. Now the Wizards can turn their attention to Bradley Beal, who will be a restricted free agent this summer.
Beal has said all along that he wants to re-sign but only if the money is right, and according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post, the young Wizards guard believes he deserves max-level money:
"I want to be valued the right way," Beal, 22, said from Japan, where he visited as part of a promotional tour for the NBA and attended a playoff viewing party with fans. "I feel like I'm a max player and that's what I'm looking for. If Washington can't meet that requirement then I may be thinking elsewhere. I'm pretty sure that they probably won't [let me go]. At the end of the day, that's where I want to be. I think a deal will probably get done but you just never know."
Beal will likely be one of the top shooting guards on the free agent market this summer, so it is not that surprising that he wants max money. He is also just 22 years old and is one of the best shooters in the league. And with Beal and John Wall, the Wizards have one of the better backcourts in the league and perhaps one of the best in the Eastern Conference, so Washington will likely want to retain his services.
However, Beal's injury-riddled past could prevent the Wizards and perhaps other teams from offering him a max deal. In his four years in the league, Beal has missed 65 games due to numerous injuries and missed a career-high 27 games in the 2015-2016 season. Due to being injured for good chunks of the season, Beal didn't really make the jump this year that many believed he would make. But Beal isn't too worried, and remains confident that his injuries won't prevent him from getting a max-level deal.
From Castillo:
"I hear about it all time, but that doesn't define me as a player," Beal said. "That won't stop me from growing as a player and it won't stop me from being who I am. The injury thing, that's behind me. I'm moving forward. I'm past it. I'm focused on my career from here on out. Hell, Steph Curry was hurt his first four years. Look at him now. John [Wall] was hurt his first three or four years. Look at him now. I'm not worried about it. People are going to say what they want to say. At the end of the day, it's not going to affect me or the money."
The comparisons to Stephen Curry and Wall are valid for Beal to make. Again, he is only 22, and averaged 17.9 points while shooting 45 percent and 38.7 percent from downtown, excellent numbers for a shooting guard.
There should be no doubt that Beal will get a max deal, yet the only question that remains is what team will offer it to him first. The Wizards do have the right to match any deal he gets since Beal is a restricted free-agent, but they may want to avoid any messiness that could result from letting him talk with other teams and re-sign their young shooting guard before it gets to be too late.
