The max extension John Wall received this summer had an influence on Bradley Beal‘s willingness to stay with the Wizards when he becomes a free agent, as the second-year shooting guard tells USA Today’s Adi Joseph.
“It’s good for the team,” Beal said of Wall’s contract. “He’s the leader. He’s the head of the snake. It just makes my decision that much easier, if I want to continue to play with him over the next couple of years.”
Beal won’t become extension-eligible until the summer of 2015, and the earliest he could hit restricted free agency is the summer of 2016. Still, Wall’s contract appears to have forged some stability for Washington, which has sorely lacked it in recent years, as Joseph notes. Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Magic were one of 26 NBA franchises to turn a profit last year, according to a Forbes.com report, but teams typically dispute those figures. Magic CEO Alex Martins tells Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel that his club didn’t wind up in the black. “We have not made a profit in over a decade,” Martins said. That’s a product primarily of the DeVos’ approach that they’re going to continue to reinvest in the business and continue to reinvest in the product on the floor. But to assert that we made an operating profit last year is completely inaccurate.”
- The Heat‘s money-saving moves have weakened the team at the wing positions, making them more vulnerable to the Pacers, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com examines.
- Heat stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are two of the most noteworthy omissions from the preliminary roster that Team USA released this morning, and it’s a sign of the times for the 32-year-old Wade, who’ll miss his fourth straight game tonight with knee soreness. Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald has more. “We appreciate the service he gave us … but it’s time for us to move on,” USA Basketball executive director Jerry Colangelo said of Wade.