The Wizards‘ season didn’t play out the way they had hoped but a bright spot among the woes has been Bradley Beal. Beal’s stellar season has put him in contention for an All-NBA spot, something that could have huge financial ramifications in his next contract, as our own Luke Adams recently detailed.
Beal would be eligible for a “super-max” contract, which would start at 35% of the salary cap with a selection, as opposed to 30% without it. The selection would leave Washington with a tough choice of whether or not to offer another guard a mammoth deal.
Let’s assume Washington is ready to make the commitment. Would Beal sign a super-max extension with the Wizards? Beal tells Fred Katz of The Athletic that he has “no idea.”
“I try not to [think about it],” Beal said. “I’m not gonna be naïve to it. I know about it. But … I haven’t even gotten that far, because I need to figure out what we’re gonna do in this offseason, where we’re going, which direction we’re going.”
Beal has said that he wants to retire in a Wizards’ jersey. He’s said he is “all about loyalty.” He’s also clashed with GM Ernie Grunfeld earlier this season and whispers that he wanted a trade persisted for most of the campaign.
Beal and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, have discussed the possibility of signing the “super-max,” though they don’t want to get ahead of themselves.
“It’s crazy. I mentioned it to my agent just out of curiosity and he said, ‘One, I don’t like talking about it because I don’t wanna jinx it.’ That’s what he was telling me. And then two, he said, ‘I’ve never done a super-max deal, so I can’t tell you what to expect, what not to expect.’ So, it’s kinda like we’re going in blind,” Beal said. “Granted, my job is to continue to play out these last seven (games), and we’ll see where we are at the end of the year.”
“If I make it, I make it. If I don’t, I don’t. But it’ll definitely be evaluated at the end of the year.”
Beal added that making the All-NBA team “wasn’t really” a goal until people started talking about it more and more. The team’s lack of success may hinder his chances at a selection but he believes he knows his standing among the league’s best.
“I feel like behind James [Harden], I’m the best shooting guard in the league,” Beal said. “My numbers may show it, [but] we’re not winning. I think that hurts [an All-NBA case] in a lot of ways. But in terms of individual success, I feel like I’m right there.”
too bad 40M john wall’s a cap killer