NBA Rumors: Wizards to give Bradley Beal max contract
By Tom West
The NBA salary cap is soaring for free agency this summer, and Bradley Beal is reaping the rewards as the Washington Wizards are expected to give him a max contract.
Saying Bradley Beal is a max player isn’t going to be a very popular opinion. He’s a talented shooter and highlights the Washington Wizards’ stellar backcourt alongside John Wall, but is he worth a max? Not quite. And that opinion is even more justified when you consider the track record of his health. However, as the salary cap explodes to $92 million this summer, paying max money is what Beal will command from the Wizards.
As Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post has reported, $23 million should be the exact sum heading towards Beal’s bank account this summer:
"Barring a drastic development, Beal won’t have to shop around. 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."
It’s a steep salary for Beal, and is even higher when you consider the fact that he’s only reached 70 games played in a season once (in 2013-14) during his four-year career due to a variety of injuries, coming off a new low of 55 games and only 35 starts this season. That kind of track record alone (averaging out at 61.75 games per season) should make any team hesitate at the thought of handing out a max contract, regardless of Beal’s career-high 17.4 points per game this season and silky-smooth three-point shot, which only heightens his value in today’s NBA where the perimeter and shooting rules all.
To ensure that $23 million is definitely the commanded price, Beal himself has stated that he believes he’s absolutely worth that kind of money (per Jorge Castillo):
"“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.”"
A max deal may not be applicable to Beal based on talent, health, and long-term reliability, but it’s essential for the Wizards in the NBA’s new market if they want to keep him.
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