The agent of Bradley Beal has shut down trade rumors involving the Washington Wizards star guard. Mark Bartelstein told Adam Zagoria of Forbes “there are no Beal sweepstakes” despite the recent speculation of the Brooklyn Nets being interested in Beal.
“There are no Beal Sweepstakes and that’s why he re-signed with the Wizards. Brad re-signed with the Wizards because he wanted to stay in Washington and the Wizards wanted to keep him there.”
Mark Bartelstein / Adam Zagoria of Forbes
Thursday, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reported the Nets have internally discussed ways to acquire Beal.
Brooklyn has rumored to looking for a third star to pair with all-stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. However, Bartelstein says it will not include his client, Beal.
Beal signed a two-year extension worth nearly $72 million in October. The 26-year old made the decision to extend with the Wizards because he is committed to the organization.
While Beal and his agent have repeatedly spoke of their commitment to the Wizards, the team’s recent misfortunes have welcomed continued speculation about Beal being traded. The Wizards stumbled in 2019-20 season to a 24-40 record before the NBA suspended the season due to the coronavirus pandemic. That’s despite Beal being second in the league in scoring with 30.5 points per game.
Still, the Wizards have reasons to believe their fortunes will turn around with a team built around Beal. Five-time All-Star John Wall is expected to return to the court next season after rehabbing a torn Achilles he suffered in January 2019.
Washington are expected to have a lottery draft pick in this year’s draft. Grouped with last year’s first-round pick Rui Hachimura, there are plenty of building blocks and reasons Beal would want to stay with the Wizards and the Wizards would have every intention of holding on to Beal.
