I’m actually not shocked Bradley Beal took that massive 5-year offer from the Wiz for over $250 million dollar, after all he does have a family to tend to and he is quickly approaching 30 with no winning to show for so far in his playing career. He remained in Washington even after the John Wall era was up and I honestly never expected much from a Bradley Beal led team because he’s never been someone I’ve looked at as a top 5 player in the NBA even after averaging upwards of 30 points per game not too long ago. Could he make some noise with the right pieces besides him? Absolutely, he’s been out for a good portion of this season and last season and Kyle Kuzma has proven he is more than capable of stepping up in his absence being that he has increased his repertoire as an offensive player on the floor now with his improved play-making and an actual featured role; something he was never quite given as a Laker alongside LeBron James. We saw how potent he was his rookie season as a Laker and he looked like he was well on his way to becoming the best late first-round pick in NBA history, making Magic Johnson look like an absolute genius for snatching worthwhile talent that late in a draft. Newcomer Kristaps Porzingis has been a pleasant welcome to Washington DC but are both Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis enough to keep Bradley Beal in Washington for the long-haul?
If I’m the Washington Wizards I work out reasonable deals for both Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis who both are impending free-agents who have proven they should remain pillars within the Washington Wizards organization. Resurgence is something I just gave up on with Kristaps Porzingis due to his injury history and durability but there was never denying how talented he was offensively and he is really having his best season since his times in New York when he had Knicks fans feeling like they just drafted their new Patrick Ewing. But back to Bradley Beal who is looking to carve out a legacy in Washington much like Stephen Curry has done with the Golden State Warriors and to a lesser extent Damian Lillard in Portland; who although hasn’t brought the Portland Trailblazers a championship has lost no credibility as a superstar around the NBA due to his loyalty and willingness to stay ten toes down with one franchise and die trying to one day figure it out and finally win a championship in Portland. So should Bradley Beal remain in Washington? Absolutely because going elsewhere by seeking greener pastures he likely won’t be the best player on that contending roster and won’t get the bulk of the credit like a LeBron James,Kobe Bryant, or a Michael Jordan.
Why not just remain patient and let upper management make that decision down the line because again if the Washington Wizards re-sign both Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma I think they could win and win big going forward into the mid 2020’s. The Wizards have another intriguing young piece in Deni Avdija who has taken ages to develop and have any sort of major break-out but he is someone who could be a super role-player going forward for the Wizards due to his versatility on both sides of the ball; with his ability to play both the 4 and 5,rebound effectively, and serve as stretch 4 within Wes Unseld Jr’s offense. He is a fantastic passer and having scorers on the floor the caliber of a Porzingis,Kuzma, and Beal only makes him that much more effective the same way Draymmond is on the Warriors with Curry and Thompson. You plug a top 10 point-guard on that Wizards starting line-up and you would have something formidable; with the scoring Porzingis and Kuzma provide to help aide Beal a defensive minded point guard with elite passing would do wonders, those are a dime a dozen and the Wizards might have to scout the 2023 NBA draft to pick one up this summer.
That said Bradley Beal should have no reason to ask out of Washington, he’s got 250 million reasons not to and if Tommy Sheppard isn’t showing you the exit door out of Washington get healthy and capitalize on what has been a rather successful season for the Washington Wizards this season. As it stands the Wizards are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference which has them in Play-In Tournament territory as the second half of the season gets under way. There is no way the Wizards could ever get past a potential first-round series assuming they get out of the Play-In Tournament but with three players the caliber of Beal,Kuzma,and Porzingis they could certainly put a scare into any of the top teams in the Eastern Conference if they get caught napping and not completely locked-in. Besides look at the Utah Jazz, they moved on from the Mitchell-Gobert era and are on the rise once again behind Lauri Markkannen and Walker Kessler. If Bradley Beal is who he thinks he is he will figure it all out in Washington and place the Wizards amongst the Eastern elites much like his fellow friend Jayson Tatum has in Boston, once again he’s got well over 250 million reasons to.
D-NBA 