After a report earlier this week that the Wizards aren’t considering any trades involving Bradley Beal, coach Scott Brooks issued an emphatic declaration today that the star guard isn’t on the market, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports.
“Brad and I have never talked about it,” Brooks said after today’s practice. “We know that’s part of it. We haven’t won and when you don’t win, teams think that you’re just gonna throw the towel in and give up, that you’re just gonna want to get rid of your good players. So, that’s all part of the business.
“Brad is no different. He’s one of the best players in the league, of course every team would want him. But the good part about it is the team he’s on loves him the most. I love coaching him. He wants to be here, he signed an extension. He didn’t have to.”
Beal’s appeal is obvious. He’s one of the league’s most dangerous offensive players and is on pace to win his first scoring title. He’s averaging 34.7 PPG through 14 games, more than four points better than second-place Kevin Durant.
However, he’s putting up those numbers for the league’s worst team. Playing short-handed for much of the year due to COVID-19 and contact tracing, the Wizards have lost four straight games and are off to a 3-12 start. With six games already postponed, they face a loaded schedule for the second half of the season.
Beal admitted this week that the losing is getting to him, responding “Is the sky blue?” when asked if he was frustrated after Wednesday’s loss to the Pelicans.
Even so, Beal hasn’t asked to be traded and sources close to him tell Hughes that he doesn’t plan to. The Wizards are sticking to their position that they won’t seek a deal unless he requests one.
The extension that Beal signed in 2019 keeps him under contract through the end of next season, with a $36.4MM player option for 2022/23. The Wizards are hoping to quiet trade speculation by getting back in the playoff race once their full team is available again. In the meantime, Brooks is trying a more direct approach.
“We’re not interested,” he told reporters. “I’m gonna just tell (general manager Tommy Sheppard) you might as well block all the 29 other teams’ numbers. We’re not answering.”
Wait until he demands a trade and makes them miserable like Harden did to Houston.
Then they should do like Houston did and trade Westbrook first.
Stay with one team longest
Top 6 by order
Steph Curry
Klay T
Draymond
Patty Miller
Lillard
Bradley Beal
Top 3 are Warriors
Most old superstars play 3 different teams or more to search Champs
You pulled that out your arse, Udonis Haslem is number 1
Also, party mills played for the blazers before the spurs.
You are right
Haslem 18 seasons
I wouldn’t assume everyone is a spoiled prima donna like Harden.
well, if beal decided he wants to be traded then there’s nothing scott brooks can do about that…
Um, yes there is. Just because a player wants to be dealt does not mean it has to happen. Now it isn’t Brooks’s decision either, it is the GM’s decision. Although actually when it comes down to it, there is only one person that gets to decide where Beal plays and that is the Wizards owner.
Nice contradiction in that response.
It’s not a contradiction when I point it out in the comment.
Heh you responded to the original post that says there is nothing Brooks can do about it if Beal wants to be traded by saying “um, yes there is.” Then immediately say it isn’t Brooks’ decision. Not a big deal, but yes, that is clearly a contradiction. You basically said there is something Brooks can do about it followed by saying there is nothing he can do about it because it isn’t up to him. Basics. Go ahead and tell yourself whatever you want, though. I just found it amusing.
I think what you meant to say is that there is something the organization can do about it, but your initial sentence responded to a statement about Brooks, and the original post was about Brooks because he was the one quoted in the article. Free lessons!
Glad I could amuse you. Have a nice day.
I could have changed the phrase to scott brooks and the wizards couldnt do anything to keep beal if he wants to go to another team.
That was really the original thought. Players like AD, james harden, cp3, dwight howard, kawhi leonard, kyrie irving were granted of their wishes to be traded..
And lebron can go to any nba team he wishes to play with… LOL
Sack Brooks, he’s a dud and trade Bradley Beal.
I still like the idea of sending him to Atlanta and trying to get back as much young talent and picks as possible.
Onyeka Okungwu, who they drafted this year looks stuck behind Capela who is playing really really well. John Collins, is hitting FA at the end of the year and will get the max. Is he worth it? And why would you spend that on him when you just paid Gallo 20+mil also?
Then you’ve got Cam Reddish and Kevin Hueter, both young wings but again if they got Beal he’s a huge upgrade over both and you also paid Bogi 15+mil as a wing. Then lastly you have DeAndre Hunter who’s a 3/4, and the teams second highest scorer and good defender.
If I’m the Wizards I’d be saying I’ll give you Beal if you give me John Collins, Okungwu, Reddish and 2 firsts.
Hawks, if you think about it, that’s a player who’s going to cost you the max to keep in Collins who can easily be replaced by Gallo. You give up Okungwu who is your back up centre, Reddish who is nice but he’s also easily replaced with Hueter Bogi and Beal, then your only giving up two picks. Trae and Beal would be a 60 point per game backcourt and then you have Capela Gallo Hunter Hueter Bogi Rondo and whoever else aswell.
As for the Wizards you do unfortunately have to pay Collins a lot of money to keep him but he figures to be huge for you moving forward. Your future consists of Collins, Hachimura, Reddish, Okungwu, Bryant, Avdija and Brown Jr. By the way they are currently playing your going to get a top 5 pick and hopefully a good chance of picking up your future PG in Cunningham or Suggs. Then you’d set to build.
Suggs/Cunningham running the point, Reddish Brown Avdija on the wings, Hachimura and Collins at PF and Bryant and Okungwu sharing centre. Probably abit over crowded with bigs but your going to be rebuilding for a couple years and you’ll have time to make trades and players will be adjusting their games to work together. Wizards could turn it all around really quickly and have a real future if they trade Beal and get the right return.
You forgot about kris dunn. I know he has yet to play but hes an ELITE defensive guard that can guard 3 positions at an elite level. Hes a former 5th overall pick that has struggled to shoot the 3 consistently but I belive that is because it takes him time to get into a groove and then every conceivable time he gets into one, he gets hurt. When he is back though, he is at least a Marcus smart, Tony Allen all defense lock em down defender
No he is not. His style is flashy but leads to a lot of broken coverages on defense, and he turns the ball over a lot on offense. That is why the Bulls didn’t even make him a QO.
Beal has been loyal so far. No reason to doubt the sincerity of Brooks here.
Another year watching the playoffs from the couch could change things in the offseason. Hard to say.
Westbrick will miss his first playoffs since Durant left OKC it looks like.
Aww…poor Westbrook.
He has been, but when things reach this level of bad with little hope in sight you can’t blame someone like Beal for potentially changing his mind.
“Baby, please don’t go!”
“We are not even answering the phone” is what people usually say a couple of weeks before making a trade.
The media were the only ones pushing the rumors, especially after Harden was traded, the only real rumors they have are Drummond and Lonzo.
One must wonder why folks seem to wanna trade BB away from WAS?
Dude is happy there, & getting paid handsomely for that, is there anything else to that in life?
Chasing rings shows a very week & flawed character, so it always is a negative when you see a star player wanting to move for a ring… there are as well better reasons to move than that… but at the end of the day happy BB is staying, maybe folks can change about who to gossip… nah, ain’t gonna happen, right?
Wanting to win doesn’t show a weak or flawed character. There are some poor ways to go about it (see: Harden, James), but that’s not a good argument on its face value.
“they should do like Houston did and trade Westbrook first.”
Remember that no team wanted to trade for him and Houston got lucky they managed to dump him to Washington? Now Westbrook’s value is even lower than it was in the preseason (didn’t think it would be possible); he’s definitely not going anywhere.
Competition is psychological as well as physical. Constant outside pressure or propaganda can wear a person down until it changes the person’s thinking. See it all the time.
This is how bad organizations are run.
He chose to remain so…
This has been clear to anyone paying attention. It’s not about Brooks, who could well be gone soon. Rebuilding (or any other concept involving taking one step back to take two steps forward) is not in the Wiz’s DNA. Two decades tell me the Wiz won’t even begin the process of speaking to teams unless and until Beal demands a trade (and I mean demand a trade).