With the NBA trade deadline just eight days away, the Washington Wizards front office must make multiple decisions that will impact the franchise for years to come. And the first of those choices is the same one the team has faced the past few years.
Will Washington consider trading Bradley Beal, the three-time All-Star who can become an unrestricted free agent this summer? And if the Wizards don’t trade Beal, what moves will they attempt to make to regain traction in a season that began with great promise following a 10-3 start but has cratered amid a defensive collapse and swirling talk of dissatisfaction among teammates?
This is what we’re hearing from league sources.
Bradley Beal’s status
Beal’s long-term future still overshadows everything else.
The Wizards face sizable risk with whatever they decide to do. If they don’t trade the 2021 All-NBA third-team guard before the Feb. 10 trade deadline, he can become an unrestricted free agent in July and would be eligible to sign a four-year deal worth approximately $180 million elsewhere. In that case, the Wizards would risk losing Beal without receiving any players or draft picks in return.
Or Beal could become a free agent and re-sign with Washington to a supermax contract worth $241 million over five years. In that case, Washington would risk committing a massive chunk of its cap figure — an average of $48 million per season — to someone who has never proven he can carry a team on his own, is already showing some signs of slippage and would be 33 during the final year of the deal.
Sources have heard no indications the Wizards are seriously considering trading Beal.
