If he earns a spot on one of the All-NBA teams this spring, Bradley Beal will become eligible for a four-year, super-max contract extension that would start in 2021. However, as Fred Katz of The Athletic relays, Beal says he’s focused more on the direction of the Wizards’ franchise than on a potentially massive payday.
“My biggest concern, just like I tell everybody else, is just making sure that we’re going in the right direction. It’s easy to secure money. Money is not the problem,” Beal said. “I already have one max contract, and I can live off that and be cool. So, money is not the problem.”
Despite still being two years away from free agency, Beal will be eligible to sign a new deal in the offseason regardless of whether he makes an All-NBA team this year. However, a non-super-max extension would be far more limiting in terms of years and dollars. A super-max deal would start at 35% of the cap for 2021/22, and, based on cap projections, could be worth upwards of $190MM over four years.
Still, it’s not clear whether the Wizards would put such an offer on the table, in part because we don’t yet know who will be running the team’s front office this summer. The club dismissed longtime president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld last week and is in the market for a new head of basketball operations. Beal is among those who is curious to see which way the Wizards go on that decision, as that’ll represent the first step in assessing his future with the franchise.
“It’s, what are we gonna do here moving forward?” Beal said, per Katz. “It starts with getting a new GM and building up our team this summer. I’ll definitely give it a lot of thought. It’s not an easy decision. It’s not a simple one, either. So, (it’s a) game of chess this summer.”
Beal said last month that he has “no idea” if he’d sign a super-max extension with the Wizards if he qualifies and the team puts the offer on the table.
I like the guy so hopefully he is happy wherever he is at.
First of all, respect to a young NBA player that has saved his earnings and can live off of his current contract. Too often we read about these guys blowing all their earnings.
Second, this is as close as Beal can come to threatening to walk when his contract is up without getting fined. Beal is expecting the Wiz to make big improvements, and no one reasonable thinks that’s possible.
Beal is officially trade bait…Lakers might be interested in a couple months after they strike out on all the big name free agents.
Beal deserves better than that team but boy thats a pile of cash