Fansided

1 contract every NBA team would want back

By Ian Levy

Mar 28, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) flexes after a play against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 28, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) flexes after a play against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 2, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) reacts on the court against the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 2, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) reacts on the court against the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal

The Wizards finally managed to extricate themselves from this one but given a free pass, I’m sure they’d like a do-over on the decision to sign Beal in the first place. He played just one season of the five-year, $250 million extension he signed last July, appearing in just 50 games and contributing very little to the sporadically good vibes Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis were able to muster.

The grand sum of their trade haul for Beal is Bilal Coulibaly (a rookie project who may take some time to pay off), a quartet of future first-round picks who won’t begin to arrive until 2026, a slew of second-rounders and two players who already appeared on this list — Landry Shamet and Jordan Poole. And you can make a strong argument that Poole at half the price of Beal for the next four years is only a marginally less depressing proposition.

Sometimes teams don’t really have a choice and the Wizards were pretty boxed into the decision to max out Beal. But that doesn’t make it any less of a train wreck.

The best NBA Draft pick of all time at every slot. dark. Next

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