The Wizards will be eligible on Friday to offer Bradley Beal a three-year contract extension worth more than $111MM, and newly-permanent general manager Tommy Sheppard tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski the team is ready to put that offer on the table.
“At the very first moment allowed, we are going to offer Bradley the full max extension,” Sheppard said.
[RELATED: Bradley Beal withdraws from World Cup consideration]
Players like Beal – who are on contracts that span at least five years – are permitted to sign veteran contract extensions on the third anniversary of their signing date. Beal’s last contract was finalized on July 26, 2016, so his extension eligibility window opens on July 26 of this year. An extension would start in the 2021/22 season, once his current deal expires.
Still, there’s no guarantee that the All-Star guard will accept the Wizards’ offer once it’s officially on the table. Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein tells Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (Twitter link) that there “hasn’t been a decision to make as of yet,” suggesting that he and Beal will begin thinking seriously about his contract situation once they have the extension offer in hand.
“There are moments in a career where there are big decisions to make, and Brad will work through everything and figure out the right thing to do,” Bartelstein told Wojnarowski. “There are nothing but great feelings for [Wizards owner] Ted [Leonsis], Tommy and [head coach] Scott [Brooks]. They’ve treated Brad wonderfully.”
There has been speculation that the Wizards might feel pressure to place Beal on the trade block if he turns down an extension offer, but Sheppard tells Wojnarowski that the team has no plans to go down that road. Sheppard, who said the Wizards would also be open to a shorter-term extension for Beal if he prefers it, added that he intends to sell the 26-year-old on the future of the reshaped organization now that he has been installed as the permanent GM.
[RELATED: Wizards officially announce front office changes]
Turning down an extension offer at this time wouldn’t necessarily mean that Beal isn’t interested in staying in D.C. long-term. He’d be eligible for a longer, more lucrative extension a year from now, particularly if he earns All-NBA honors next season — that would make him eligible for a five-year, super-max extension next offseason.
Even if Beal doesn’t make an All-NBA team and simply plays out his current contract, he’d be in a better position to maximize his long-term earnings as a free agent. Assuming the Wizards still have Beal on their roster by the 2021 offseason, they could offer him $217.5MM over five years at that time, based on the league’s latest cap projections.
While we’ll have to wait to find out what Beal is thinking, Wojnarowski’s story makes it clear the Wizards are serious about building around him. Sheppard indicated that the club wants to “surround him with guys he wants to play with,” while Woj reports that Leonsis traveled to Chicago to present the team’s new vision to Bartelstein.
Agent sounds like he’s preparing the Wizards for a breakup
Come to the Heat!
Heat fans have been flooding his Twitter apparently lol
idk I feel like Beal is one of those players who is not a MAX guy they should trade him and try and get at least 2 good to great picks so they can rebuild.
No obvious place to send him imo, if what they want is very high draft picks. There aren’t a lot of those picks still owned by good teams. Boston’s got one, but Beal doesn’t fit at all there. OKC does of course, but I doubt he fits their timeline (although Adams — whom the Wiz could move on to another team — plus a haul of picks is a nice package). Heat have nothing to offer except OK players, which isn’t what Washington wants. Denver could do it but I don’t see why (Harris when healthy isn’t THAT much worse than Beal).
Knicks would be a spot. OKC says they want to remain competitive, you could run CP3 and Beal together and just use Gallinari to facilitate the deal.
NYC makes a lot of sense especially once the DEC 15th signing come into play … Maybe a high dollar contract/Rj barrett and an unprotected draft pick would work I would think.
Swap DeAngelo Russel and Bradley Beal (signs extension and trade him whenever both players are eligible to be traded).
Wizards gets a younger gaurd who is an All Star and has more potential to grow and develop.
Wizards can get rid of a frustrated star and get something back for him (all star talent).
Warriors get a more polished all star who would fit their offense better than DeAngelo would. (Steph + Klay + Beal backourt) meshes better than (Steph + Russel + klay) in my opinion.
I also think Beal did not like playing with John Wall because Wall was so ball dominant and would not move the ball and drive/kick out if he did not have a lay up (similarly to westbrook).
Steph plays a lot of off ball and passes a lot and lets the offense run and touch everyone. Klay is the most efficient low usage SG in the league.
Green’s usage might go down, but his offensive usage has been decreasing the last couple of years.
Beal to the …
Nuggets for Harris, Beasley, Hernagomez and a pick
Or
Bulls for LaVine, Hutchinson and Felicio and a pick
Or
Hawks for Crabbe, Reddish and Spellman and a pick