Bradley Beal

Southeast Notes: Beal, Batum, Spoelstra, Hezonja

September 11th, 2015 at 10:01am CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards and Bradley Beal have kept up a dialogue throughout the offseason, but they haven’t made much progress toward an extension, sources tell Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. That’s not surprising, since the deadline is still weeks away, though both sides have reason not to do an extension at all and wait to strike a deal until next summer, since Beal can get a longer contract then and the Wizards can keep his cap hold low and retain flexibility, Castillo writes. I examined Beal’s extension candidacy further last week. See more from the Southeast Division:

Shaun Powell of NBA.com speculates that it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Hornets offer Nicolas Batum an extension. The small forward, whose contract expires after this season, is eligible for a veteran extension, though he could receive better terms if he signs one on or after the six-month anniversary of the June 24th trade that brought him to the Hornets, as I noted here. In any case, Powell likes most of the moves Charlotte has made this summer after the disastrous Lance Stephenson signing of last year.
Erik Spoelstra is the second-longest tenured coach in the NBA, but he’s never won a playoff series without LeBron James, so he faces pressure this season with a Heat team expected to advance beyond the first round, opines Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
Mario Hezonja‘s potent, versatile offensive game prevailed upon the Magic to ignore a more pressing need at power forward with the fifth overall pick, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. The Magic are well-stocked at the wing, but Hezonja may well emerge as the ideal sixth man, playing both the two and the three, Schmitz argues.

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Beal, Frye, Heat

September 7th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks have gone through several key changes since Bruce Levenson self-reported racially charged emails he’d sent and announced a year ago today that he was selling the team, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recaps. Tony Ressler took over for Levenson as the principal owner, Mike Budenholzer assumed former GM Danny Ferry‘s responsibilities and received a promotion, and Tiago Splitter and Tim Hardaway Jr. replaced DeMarre Carroll and Pero Antic as key parts of the roster. The team now faces the challenge of improving upon a season that saw “the most remarkable on-court run in franchise history,” as Vivlamore puts it. While we wait to find out where the Hawks go from here, see more from the Southeast Division:

Some people around the Wizards had questioned Bradley Beal‘s work ethic and whether he could become a great player, but the season that Paul Pierce spent in Washington helped Beal more than anyone else on the team, many Wizards insiders feel, reports Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. Pierce opted out and signed with the Clippers, so it remains to be seen how Beal, whose extension candidacy I examined in depth Friday, will perform without the veteran mentor.
Channing Frye put up his lowest numbers in five years this past season after signing a four-year, $32MM deal with the Magic, and while he started 51 games, the Magic insisted that they brought him in as more of a complementary player than as a starter, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Next month, the 32-year-old Frye will try to hold off Aaron Gordon, who turns 20 in a few weeks, for a starting spot, but Frye would best serve the Magic in a reserve role that would emphasize his floor-stretching abilities, Schmitz believes.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel won’t be surprised if the Heat open the regular season with only 14 players on the roster, though he contends in his mailbag column that the team faces depth issues.

Eastern Notes: Beal, Pacers, Celtics

September 6th, 2015 at 6:15pm CST by Will Joseph

Bradley Beal is a very talented player with a lot of upside and one who will receive a maximum deal from a different team if the Wizards don’t sign him to a max extension, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders opines. Hamilton takes into account the expected rise in the league’s salary cap and suggests that Beal is likely worth a large contract because of the league’s current market. Our own Chuck Myron recently examined Beal’s extension candidacy. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported in May that the Wizards were committed to paying him the max, but talks didn’t really begin until mid-July, and the sides apparently met with conflicting desires.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

The Pacers, with depth in the frontcourt, don’t appear to be a good potential trade partner with the Suns for Markieff Morris, who issued a trade demand, Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com writes. The four-year, $32MM extension that Morris signed last fall kicks in for this coming season, but a lack of communication between Morris and the team indicates that the relationship will be extremely difficult to repair. For the Pacers, landing Morris would be worth looking into in exchange for a bench player and a second-round pick, Agness adds, but that package would likely not be enough to reel him in.
The main problem with the Celtics heading into this season, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes, is the team lacks an elite star. Forsberg compares this group of Celtics to last year’s Hawks and adds that although Atlanta had a remarkable season without a star, it ultimately ran out of gas without a big-time player.

Extension Candidate: Bradley Beal

September 4th, 2015 at 11:14am CST by Chuck Myron

NBA: Playoffs-Atlanta Hawks at Washington Wizards

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

It was somewhat surprising not to see Bradley Beal‘s name pop up alongside Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard when they agreed to max extensions on the first and second nights of free agency, respectively. After all, J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com reported this past fall that Washington was planning a rookie scale extension for the former No. 3 overall pick, and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported in May that the Wizards were committed to paying him the max. Still, talks didn’t begin in earnest until mid-July, and the sides apparently met with conflicting desires.

The Wizards want non-guaranteed salary if they sign Beal for the maximum, while the Mark Bartelstein client would want a player option in any deal for less than the max, Michael reported this summer. Washington can’t sign him to a five-year extension, since the team already did so with John Wall, making him its Designated Player. So a player option would mean Beal could leave after three seasons of the deal, setting him up for unrestricted free agency in 2019, when he’d be 26 and the salary cap would be a projected $102MM, giving him the chance to reap more than he could at the back end of an extension that would start in 2016/17, when the cap is projected to be a relatively paltry $89MM. Max salaries rise and fall with the cap, so the higher the cap, the more Beal could earn. Plus, Beal would qualify for a higher maximum salary tier in 2019, when he’d be a seven-year veteran and thus eligible for a max equivalent to 30% of the cap, rather than the roughly 25% he could get now.

That presents an intriguing compromise if Beal would be willing to come off the max number, but it’s unclear just how much the Wizards would want him to sacrifice in that scenario. If they asked him to sign for no more than the current projection for his max salary of $20.4MM, a hedge against an unexpected rise that the Warriors made with Klay Thompson last fall, Beal could end up having made no financial concession at all if the projection is accurate. If Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld and company want him to commit to a deal closer to the $16MM salaries that Jonas Valanciunas will see in the extension he signed with the Raptors last month, it would be easy to see why the sides haven’t come to an agreement.

Washington’s push for non-guaranteed money apparently stems from a concern over Beal’s history of injuries, though he’s avoided major issues and has missed only 26, 9 and 19 games the last three seasons, respectively. Beal could bet on himself and feel confident about his chances to collect on his full salary. Still, guaranteed contracts are de rigueur with core players, so Bartelstein may well have a desire not to set a precedent in that regard for his other clients.

Casting a shadow on the negotiations is the specter of Kevin Durant‘s free agency next summer. The Wizards certainly won’t be alone among teams seeking the former MVP, but they have a unique geographical advantage of playing in Washington, Durant’s hometown. An associate of Durant’s told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald this summer that if the four-time scoring champ were to leave the Thunder, he would sign with the Wizards. Washington has clearly been preparing should Durant be so inclined, but an extension for Beal would complicate that effort.

The Wizards have nearly $33.5MM in guaranteed salaries for next season, though that doesn’t include a team option of almost $5.9MM on Otto Porter‘s rookie scale contract that Washington will almost certainly pick up. That accounts for four players, and they’d have to carry cap holds for eight more. At minimum, they could strip down to seven roster charges, which are cap holds that represent empty roster spots and are equal to the rookie minimum salary, plus Beal’s cap hold, which would be about $14.2MM if he doesn’t sign an extension.

Thus, barring trades or stretch provision maneuvers, the Wizards would carry no less than about $54.6MM on a projected $89MM cap for 2016/17. That would be enough to sign Durant to a max contract starting at the projected $24.9MM he’d be eligible for as a nine-year veteran next summer, with about $6.7MM in cap room to spare. Give Beal an extension for the max, which entails a projected starting salary of $20.4MM since he’ll be a four-year vet, and the Wizards would have just enough to squeeze in Durant at his max salary, but essentially no breathing room beyond that. Barring a higher than expected cap, Washington wouldn’t even have room to hang on to its first-round pick next year. The Wizards would have Durant, Beal, Wall, Porter Marcin Gortat, Kelly Oubre, whomever they could sign with the room exception and only minimum-salary additions from there. The Wizards would be able to sell Durant on a strong starting five, but they couldn’t promise any depth.

Instead, the Wizards could forgo an extension with Beal and sign him to a new deal next summer, much in the same way the Spurs put off a deal with Kawhi Leonard last fall to help clear cap space for their successful pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge this year. The Wizards could spend freely while Beal’s cap hold stays at that $11.4MM figure, wooing Durant and supporting talent, and use Beal’s Bird rights to finally re-sign him once they’re finished scouring the market. Of course, such a strategy would require Beal’s cooperation, but the Wizards would have the ability to match offer from other teams, since he’d be a restricted free agent, and the July Moratorium buys Washington some time to negotiate with Durant and others before Beal could sign an offer sheet. The Wizards would have three days to match even if he signed an offer sheet the moment the moratorium ended, giving them plenty of time.

Beal is no doubt a sterling talent. His scoring average dipped this past season in part because he took fewer shots than the season before, but his shooting percentages, from behind the three-point line and from the floor as whole, improved. He was the ninth-most accurate three-point shooter in the league in 2014/15. His defense was so-so, as he was essentially break-even in Basketball-Reference’s Defensive Box Plus Minus and the 18th-best shooting guard in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus Minus. Still, at only 22 and already an elite floor-stretcher, he offers enticing value.

It’s merely the context that should prevent the sides from reaching a deal this year. The Wizards have incentive to let this fall’s deadline pass because of Durant and all the other avenues they can pursue in free agency next July. They must be careful not to poison their relationship with Beal if they present too many reasons for not signing him, so it’s somewhat curious to see them bring up the notion of non-guaranteed money. Ultimately, the main reason for the team not to sign Beal is timing, and if Washington makes that clear to him and to Bartelstein, chances seem better that the sides will continue a fruitful partnership for years to come.

Do you think the Wizards should sign Beal to an extension, and if so, what sort of deal should they give him? Leave a comment to tell us.

Southeast Notes: Webster, Beal, Kalinoski

August 17th, 2015 at 5:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Martell Webster‘s partial guarantee of $2.5MM for 2016/17 becomes a full guarantee of more than $5.845MM if he plays in 70 games this coming season, and the Wizards forward has embraced a new commitment to his fitness this summer, as he explains to Ben Mehic of Fansided’s Wiz of Awes blog. Webster also made it clear that he wants to continue to play past the expiration of the contract, backtracking from comments he made this past fall that indicated he would most likely retire in 2017.

“I feel amazing,” Webster said to Mehic. “I transformed by body, I dropped 20 pounds and I’m probably going to drop 10 more, so that I’m about 206 — anywhere from 206 to 210 this next year, that’s what I want to play at. I feel amazing, a lot of pressure has been taken off my back and off of my joints and I feel great.”

See more from Washington and elsewhere around the Southeast Division here:

The Wizards are hesitant to commit to the four-year, maximum-salary extension that Bradley Beal wants unless it contains some non-guaranteed salary, given his history of injuries, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. That jibes with what Michael heard late last month, when he wrote that the Wizards wanted an escape hatch in any long-term deal while Beal’s camp was insistent upon a player option if he were to take less than the max. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported in May that the Wizards were committed to giving him the max, but Michael says the club’s thinking has shifted slightly since last fall, when Washington seemed ready to move full speed ahead with extension plans despite Beal’s broken wrist.
The Heat and Hornets had expressed interest in signing undrafted Davidson guard Tyler Kalinoski to a deal for training camp, but he signed with Elan Chalon of France instead on a contract that included an NBA out, writes Ian Thomsen of NBA.com. That escape clause has expired, but the NBA dream is not dead for the Kenny Grant client, as Thomsen chronicles in a piece that examines the path of those on the fringe between the NBA and Europe. “A guy with his skill-set is intriguing,” said Dan Craig, who coached Kalinoski on the Heat’s summer league team. “I think he is right there on the brink of being a 14th or 15th guy on an NBA roster. In the right system, under the right coaching, he could possibly come in and give you impact minutes.”

Wizards, Bradley Beal Talk Extension

July 22nd, 2015 at 12:31pm CST by Will Joseph

JULY 22ND, 12:31pm: The Wizards and Beal’s camp have talked and continue to do so, but no deal is close, sources with knowledge of both sides tell Michael. Washington wants any long-term deal to include some kind of escape hatch for the team, while Beal, too, would want a chance to opt out if he were to take less than the max, Michael writes.

JULY 12TH, 7:24pm: The Wizards will begin serious talks with Bradley Beal, who is entering the final year of his rookie scale contract that pays him $4.7MM, regarding a contract extension, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reports citing two sources with knowledge of the situation.

Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein told Michael early on Sunday that actual negotiations with Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld will start as early as this upcoming week. “We had to get past that first nine or 10 days of free agency. With that chaotic period over, Ernie and I will talk and see where we are,” Bartelstein said.

It was reported in May that the Wizards have made it clear that they’re committed to paying Beal the maximum salary. Giving Beal the max would be a bold move for Washington because the deal would kick in just as the salary cap jumps to a projected $89MM for 2016/17. Michael reported back in October that the club was planning an extension for the promising shooting guard.

Wizards Ready To Give Max To Bradley Beal

May 20th, 2015 at 3:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards have made it clear that they’re committed to paying Bradley Beal the maximum salary, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes amid his Playoff Buzz column. Berger raises the question of whether it’ll come in the form of an extension this offseason or a new contract in the summer of 2016, though J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported in October that the club was planning an extension for the promising shooting guard. Coach Randy Wittman signaled earlier this week that the Wizards intend to keep Beal, whose rookie scale contract expires after next season, for the long term.

Giving Beal the max, regardless of whether it comes in the form of an extension or a new contract, would be a bold investment from Washington, since the deal would kick in just as the salary cap jumps to a projected $89MM for 2015/16. League execs nonetheless told Shams Charania of RealGM that they were confident that Beal would be able to command the max this summer, as Charania reported in November. Max salaries rise right along with the cap, and Beal would garner an estimated starting salary of around $21MM, about $4MM more than the team is set to pay John Wall that season.

Wall just finished the first season of a five-year max extension he signed in 2013, which made him the team’s Designated Player. That means the Wizards can’t give Beal an extension that covers more than four seasons, though they can ink him to a new five-year contract if they allow him to hit restricted free agency in 2016.

Washington also stands to benefit from a new contract instead of an extension because that would allow the team to keep Beal’s 2015/16 cap hold of about $11.389MM on the books into the summer of 2016, as Berger points out. D.C. native Kevin Durant is poised to headline the 2016 free agent class and it’s no secret that the Wizards would like to talk him into a homecoming. Passing on an extension with Beal and signing him in restricted free agency could afford the team an extra $10MM or so in flexibility to chase Durant or other targets in 2016. The Wizards could wait to officially sign Beal while chasing other free agents, though there’s always the risk that Beal would find an offer sheet with terms more to his liking from another team, forcing Washington to decide whether to match. Making it clear that they intend to give him the max would dissipate that threat, however.

Southeast Notes: Beal, Nene, Ressler, Fournier

May 19th, 2015 at 3:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s conference finals or bust for the Wizards next season, opines Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. Coach Randy Wittman acknowledges the challenge is to find the right complements to John Wall and Bradley Beal, as Youngmisuk notes. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported in October that the team is planning an extension for Beal, who’s eligible to receive one this summer, and Wittman hinted that the team has no intention to let the shooting guard go anywhere anytime soon.

“We know what we have to do and the pieces that I would like to add moving forward,” Wittman said. “Brad and John will be here a long time and so we got to utilize their strengths and find the right people to put around them.”

There’s more on the Wizards amid the latest from the Southeast Division:

Marcin Gortat said Monday that he wants to play with a stretch four, but Nene, who doesn’t fit that description, made it clear that he’d prefer not to have to play more center, as Michael relays in a pair of pieces. Moving to center might mean a backup role for Nene as he enters the final season of his contract with the Wizards, Michael suggests. “As much as I love Nene, and I think Nene understands this, too, I would love to play with a stretch four, with a guy who shoots the ball from the three-point line because that automatically gives me more room under the basket to operate,” Gortat said. “It gives me more opportunity to play pick-and-rolls to the paint where the paint is open.”
The Board of Governors are expected to complete the approval process for Tony Ressler’s deal to buy the Hawks within the next four to six weeks, a source told Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The draft is five weeks from Thursday, and free agency begins six weeks from Wednesday.
Offseason trade acquisition Evan Fournier was a revelation early in the season for the Magic, but his numbers were inconsistent after a switch to the bench, and he’d likely be a reserve again next season if the team re-signs Tobias Harris, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Fournier is eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.

Eastern Notes: Whiteside, Beal, Butler, Cavs

November 25th, 2014 at 10:08pm CST by Eddie Scarito

League executives are confident that Bradley Beal will command a max extension from the Wizards, RealGM’s Shams Charania hears. Washington has made it known around the league that it intends to do whatever’s necessary to secure the shooting guard for the long term, Charania adds, echoing a report from last month indicating that the Wizards were already planning to ink Beal to an extension when he’s eligible for one in the offseason ahead.

Here’s more from the east:

The Heat see new signee Hassan Whiteside as a prospect they can develop for the long term, coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters, including Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The center had worked out two times in three years for the team, including an audition last week, as Jackson writes in a separate piece.
Whiteside’s free agent deal with the Heat is for two years, and includes partial guarantees for each season, Charania reports (Twitter link). It’s presumably a minimum salary arrangement, since the Heat are limited to giving out no more than that.
The Bulls and Jimmy Butler failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension, setting him up to become a restricted free agent next summer. But Butler isn’t letting his contract situation distract him and is continuing to work hard, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com writes in his profile of the swingman. “I feel like I’ve never been the best player,” Butler said. “I’ve never been highly recruited, so I’ve always had all the chips stacked up against me and I’ve always found a way to make things happen. [The contract talk] is just another obstacle, another hurdle. But I think I’m in the right direction and if I keep my eye on the prize I think I’ll end up successful.”
Not all “superteams” are created equal, and it takes great sacrifices to make a combination of superstar players work, something the Cavs are finding out the hard way, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report writes. “I tell people all the time that it’s easy to say the word sacrifice,” veteran swingman Mike Miller said. “But to sacrifice, whether it’s playing time, shots, things like that, without knowing the outcome, it’s scary. And that’s what you’re asking players to do here in Cleveland again. You got young, talented players that are asked to sacrifice without knowing what the outcome could be. If you don’t win a championship, is it worth it?“

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Wizards Pick Up Options On Beal, Porter

October 14th, 2014 at 5:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Wizards have announced that they have exercised their options on Bradley Beal and Otto Porter, which will keep them under their rookie scale contracts for 2015/16, the team announced in a press release. “Bradley and Otto are both big pieces of the core group of players that we will build around as we continue to improve our team,” said team president Ernie Grunfeld. “We look forward to them playing significant roles in our success both now and in the future.”

The moves are not unexpected, as Beal is an integral part of Washington’s offense and one of the team’s building blocks moving forward, despite suffering a broken wrist that will sideline him for a minimum of six to eight weeks. Porter is also part of the Wizards’ future, and is only one season removed from being a lottery pick. The team option was for the fourth year of Beal’s deal, and he is slotted to make $5,694,674 in 2015/16. Porter’s option was a third-year one, and Porter is on the books for $4,662,960 next season.

Beal ended last season second on the team in scoring at 17.5 PPG, and added 3.7 RPG, and 3.3 APG. He shot 41.9% overall, and 40% from long range Beal was selected third overall by Washington back in the 2012 NBA Draft. The team is expected to try to work out a long-term extension with Beal next summer, and with the new TV deal on the horizon it will be interesting to see how much he commands.

Porter was selected third overall by Washington in the 2013 NBA Draft. He was a disappointment in his first year, averaging 2.1PPG and 1.5 RPG in 37 games contests last season. Porter showed some flashes this summer when he was named to the 2014 All-NBA Summer League First Team after logging 19.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 1.8 APG. With the arrival of Paul Pierce, Porter won’t see huge minutes this season, but he has the opportunity to be a rotation contributor.

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