NBA Power Rankings: All 30 Starting Shooting Guards
By Shane Young
6. Bradley Beal — Washington Wizards
Compile a group of professional players you perceive as “easily loved, with high production levels.”
Typically, when a player is a fan-favorite or a very likable human being, they aren’t near the top of their position … or even their own team for that matter.
Bradley Beal tops the list in terms of guys anyone can get along with, while bringing 120 percent effort and intensity every quarter.
Beal will be entering just his third season in the NBA, but already has the maturity level of a 30-year-old. Talk to the 21-year-old, or listen to how he presents himself, and you’ll be able to agree. The backcourt in Golden State gets the credit of having the best among all 30 teams, but I wouldn’t hesitate to pick Washington’s if it came down to basketball IQ, speed, and work ethic.
Wall and Beal have the same type of connection with one another that may even supersede Golden State’s, mainly because they bring it on both ends each possession. The pick-and-rolls Marcin Gortat and Washington’s forwards have been able run for Wall and Beal to fire off mid-range jumpers reaches levels you wouldn’t believe:
Beal knocks them down from those areas with the best of them. To do so in your second season — while averaging 17.1 points per game — is impressive, and he’s only going up from where he’s at … not down.
Attempting 37 less above the break triples last season, Beal made just as many as Wall, nailing 41.2 percent of them.
In two years when Washington finds themselves in a chase for Kevin Durant, there’s one player that will lure him there. Beal’s shooting will be off the charts by then, and he’ll be a top three shooting guard.