The Washington Wizards offered superstar Bradley Beal a four-year, $181.5 million contract extension, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports. Friday opened the window for the Wizards to offer Beal the extension.
The move comes as no surprise. Last week, Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said the team intended to make the offer as soon as they were eligible to do so.
However, the three-time All-Star is in no rush to sign. While Beal has remained loyal, even deflecting a push from former teammate Russell Westbrook to demand a trade, Beal will still play the waiting game.
“My biggest thing is getting us off going to a good start,” Beal said of an extension, via The Washington Post. “We worry about the contract money and all that later. I’ll let them deal with it when the time comes, for sure. I got all year to sign, too. So I’m not in a rush… I want to win. I want to win the right way and do it here, and I think we have enough. So it’s just we have to get it done.”
Beal, 28, has plenty of options. He signed a two-year, $72 million extension in 2019 that kicks in starting this season. The deal contains a player option for the 2022-23 season. He could play out this season and then exercise the player option and sign with the Wizards for a five-year deal worth an estimated $235 million.
Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein told Hughes, “There’s a lot of different scenarios for how this could go.”
Surely, as Beal remains patient, the speculation on his future in Washington won’t. The rumors have swirled for the past couple of seasons about Beal finding an exit out of Washington. That’s despite his own words expressing his desire to remain loyal.
However, this offseason, Beal reportedly contemplated his future before the July 29 NBA Draft. Ultimately, he decided to stay. But, the Wizards have stalled since peaking in the 2017 NBA playoffs, coming a game from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.
The oft-injured John Wall was traded last November for Russell Westbrook. The combination of Beal and Westbrook appeared destined to improve the Wizards’ fortunes. However, Washington won a disappointing 34 games. While they made the playoffs through the play-in tournament, the Wizards were bounced in the first round in five games.
Westbrook was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on draft day after expressing his desire to play in his native LA. Three seasons with Beal as the front guy for the Wizards has yet to produce more than 34 wins in a season.
Washington has hopes of surpassing that win total with the additions of Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Still it’s understandable Bradley Beal wants to wait and see where the bus travels on the Wizards’ season, before invoking his play with his contract.
