Bradley Beal said last week he deserves a maximum contract and if the Washington Wizards couldn’t meet that requirement then he might go elsewhere.
The Wizards heard Beal loud and clear and will reportedly offer him a five-year, max deal this summer when he becomes a restricted free agent. From Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post:
The Wizards are expected to offer Beal a five-year deal for the maximum amount allowed under the salary cap as soon as the free agent negotiating period kicks off on July 1, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Based on the $92 million salary cap projection teams are working with, a max contract would pay Beal $23 million next season because he could earn up to 25 percent of the cap amount as a four-year veteran.
The plan is to strike an accord with Beal immediately, but to wait to officially sign him until all the other pieces fall in place because they own his Bird Rights, a salary cap exception that allows teams to exceed the cap in order to re-sign their own players. If they sign him before signing other players, they’ll be limited by the hard cap. Sequence is important in efficiently utilizing the cap room they meticulously created for a shot at Kevin Durant or other available players in an effort to ascend into the league’s elite.
Beal, 22, hasn’t played more than 73 games in a season and has had an extensive injury history with his lower right leg, a stress injury to his fibula that always seems to flare up every year.
But the Wizards are willing to go out on a limb for Beal because he’s talented and still has a ton of potential. He shoots close to 40 percent from 3-point range and he’s the perfect complement to John Wall in the backcourt. Why break that up when it works so well?
There’s also Beal’s age. Still just 22 years old, Beal hasn’t even begun to hit his prime yet and he’s already a pretty good player.
People will question the Wizards’ decision to offer Beal the max, but it might be an even bigger risk to let him go to another team once his contract is up.
