Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal Proving He’s Worth Max Money

Bradley Beal can add the game-winner from Wednesday night’s contest against the San Antonio Spurs to his list of reasons why he deserves a max extension from the Washington Wizards.

The early-extension deadline was changed this season from it’s normal date of Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, which meant the Wizards would have a couple of extra days to try and persuade Beal and his agent to sign for what would’ve been less than a “max” extension.

As the deadline came and went, Beal was not able to come to terms with the team and decided to table contract talks until next offseason where he will become a restricted free agent.

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The Wizards will still have the chance to match any offer sheet that comes Beal’s way next summer, and they are expected to do so. If they had any doubts before this season that if this situation presented itself, they have been thrown to the wayside because of Beal’s performance thus far. It was easy to be skeptical of giving him a max extension for two main reasons.

One is that Beal hasn’t proven that he can stay healthy for an entire season, on top of being more of a one-dimensional player offensively by just shooting from outside. The other reason to keep in mind is the Wizards’ hopes to land the 2014 MVP Kevin Durant in free agency.

Though nothing is directly favoring the Wizards besides it being where Durant is from, they will want to use the argument of pairing Durant with Wall and hopefully Beal if they could agree on the right contract.

As this season approached, Beal knew that if he wanted to be in the conversation for a max contract, he would have to play at a very high level throughout the 82-game season while staying healthy. So far, he has exceeded those expectations.

One part of his game that he had been working on throughout the offseason was his ability to put the ball on the floor and slash to the rim. Wizards fans witnessed Beal’s aggressiveness throughout last season’s playoffs especially during the Atlanta series when he exploded for 34-, 29-, and 28-point games.

Through the four games thus far (and a 3-1 record), Beal has led the Wizards in scoring in every game. Beal is ranked sixth in the NBA in points per game with 25.3. He is shooting lights-out from the field with a 47.5 percent success rate while making 46.4 percent of his threes.

Beal’s motive behind scoring more points and being more aggressive this season was visiting the foul line more often. Last season, he visited the line an average 2.6 times per game compared to this season’s 4.0. Although four times a game at the free-throw line doesn’t blow you away, it’s still two extra points and showing that Beal is making a concerted effort to do so.

Beal’s confidence with the ball in his hands has been evident. His ball-handling wasn’t at a point last season that would allow him to consistently make plays in the half court set, and more specifically, the pick-and-roll sets.

But don’t let his concern of becoming more well-rounded player fool you. He is still one of the best in the league at shooting from three-point range.

When thinking of a player who is getting a huge contract, it should mean that they are one of the players that they team can turn to late in games to help will them to a victory. Beal hasn’t necessarily been known as the closer for the Wizards the past couple of seasons, but in the small sample size of games this season, he is certainly taking on that role.

In the fourth quarter, Beal is averaging 10.2 points. They are coming at critical minutes of the game as well.

In the game against Orlando, Beal and Wall were able to bring the Wizards back from being down 13 to escape with a one-point victory to open the season. His 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three was able to win a second-straight game against Milwaukee after entering the fourth quarter down by 10.

But no three was bigger than the one he hit last night with just 0.3 remaining to defeat the Spurs. It was also the first time Wizards fans got to hear Steve Buckhantz’s famous screech of “Dagger!”

If Beal continues his dominance, the Wizards will have no other choice than to throw the max extension his way. In reality, the Wizards would still be able to sign Kevin Durant to a max contract as well. Next summer they only have four players under contract including Wall, Marcin Gortat, Otto Porter, and Kelly Oubre.

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This would mean they would still have about $89 million in cap to use on Beal, Durant, and maybe some role/veteran players that are looking for a championship ring. No matter if Durant comes or not, Beal is going to be a top priority for the Wizards, and he continues to show everyone around the league why.