Wizards Notes: Beal, Brooks, Neto

Having seen other NBA stars face criticism for requesting trades in recent years, Wizards guard Bradley Beal is privately “frustrated and confused” by the portrayal of his situation in D.C., according to Fred Katz and Shams Charania of The Athletic.

As Katz and Charania explain, Beal likes the idea of spending his career with one team and would love to establish a legacy in Washington like Dirk Nowitzki‘s in Dallas — Nowitzki spent his 21-year NBA career with the Mavericks, winning a title with the club in year 13. However, Beal feels as if he’s being “nitpicked” for remaining loyal to a struggling Wizards club.

The Athletic’s duo confirms that Beal continues to express a desire to remain in Washington rather than a preference to be traded. The Wizards have just a 4-12 record so far this season, but the hope is that Sunday’s impressive comeback win over Brooklyn can be the start of a turnaround rather than a rare bright spot.

Here’s more on the Wizards:

  • In a HoopsHype podcast, Fred Katz and Michael Scotto discussed a number of Wizards-related topics, including where things stand with head coach Scott Brooks. Katz believes that Wizards owner Ted Leonsis will be less inclined to fire Brooks during the season and pay him the remainder of his $7MM salary after having furloughed 40% of his company’s employees in 2020. “I think this is an organization that thinks about optics and that kind of stuff,” Katz said. “I don’t think the optics are there to pay somebody that much when you just furloughed that many people not to work for you in the middle of an economic crisis in the middle of a pandemic.”
  • Brooks told reporters on Monday that Raul Neto will be out for at least a couple games due to a left groin strain (Twitter link via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington). Ish Smith, who missed a handful of games due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, will reclaim backup point guard duties in Neto’s absence.
  • In case you missed it, we noted on Monday that Wizards guard Garrison Mathews is among the players on two-way contracts making a case for a promotion to a standard contract.
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