The Wizards are reportedly trying to lock up Bradley Beal to a max deal
He's injury prone, but Bradley Beal is reportedly about to get paid like an NBA superstar
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2 min read
Bradley Beal wants to get paid like a max player and the Washington Wizards will reportedly honor his wishes. According to the Washington Post's Jorge Castillo, the Wizards are prepared to offer Beal a five-year max-level deal once free agency starts on July 1.
From Castillo:
The Wizards are expected to offer Beal a five-year deal for the maximum amount allowed under the salary cap as soon as the free agent negotiating period kicks off on July 1, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Based on the $92 million salary cap projection teams are working with, a max contract would pay Beal $23 million next season because he could earn up to 25 percent of the cap amount as a four-year veteran.
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The plan is to strike an accord with Beal immediately, but to wait to officially sign him until all the other pieces fall in place because they own his Bird Rights, a salary cap exception that allows teams to exceed the cap in order to re-sign their own players. If they sign him before signing other players, they'll be limited by the hard cap. Sequence is important in efficiently utilizing the cap room they meticulously created for a shot at Kevin Durant or other available players in an effort to ascend into the league's elite.
Beal getting a max-level deal isn't that surprising. He is after all, 22 years old and is an excellent shooter, which the way the NBA game is evolving, is vital for a team's success. And while Beal has often been injured, again he is still quite young and still has tons of potential. It would be almost foolish for the Wizards to not lock up Beal while they can as it will be tough to find a suitable replacement to pair with John Wall.
Also the Wizards are being smart when it comes to giving Beal a max deal. As CBS Sports' Sam Vecenie broke down and as Castillo reports, the Wizards will essentially have a handshake agreement with Beal about his contract before actually re-signing him. This allows the Wizards to work around their available salary cap space to pursue and add another max-level player. Once they do that, then they can actually sign Beal. This is similar to what the San Antonio Spurs did with Kawhi Leonard last summer.
Whenever Beal is officially re-signed. the Wizards will be set in the backcourt for the foreseeable future. Adding the proper complementary pieces will be vital and so will the direction the team takes under new coach Scott Brooks.
But with Beal and Wall, the Wizards have two star-level players to build around.
