Washington Wizards: 2016 Offseason Grades

Bank For Beal

When it came to Bradley Beal’s restricted free agency, the Wizards were caught between a rock and a hard place. They weren’t going to find a better shooting guard on the market, and when healthy, the 23-year-old Beal has shown signs of developing into a complementary star.

The only problem with Beal — other than he and John Wall supposedly disliking each other on the court, which came out after Beal’s extension — is that the poor guy just can’t seem to stay healthy. Over the first four years of his NBA career, he’s missed 26, nine, 19 and 27 games, respectively.

How are the Wizards supposed to build on their star backcourt if one of the foundational pieces isn’t structurally sound? And what if that weak support structure is constantly bickering with the other building block of the franchise?

The problem was, if Washington didn’t pony up for his services, some other team would’ve swooped in with a huge offer, leaving the Wizards empty-handed. They had to pay up. And they did, with a five-year, $128 million deal that represents a major gamble on the organization’s part.

On the one hand, Beal is a career 38.6 percent shooter from three-point range and has come to life in his only two playoff runs. “Playoff Bradley Beal” quickly became a thing in his first postseason run, averaging 19.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on .425/.415/.796 shooting splits in 2013-14.

He upped those numbers to 23.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game the following year. in the playoffs. At this point, it seems like Beal is one healthy season away from establishing himself as one of the league’s top shooting guards and helping Washington take the next step.

On the other hand, it’s hard to take that step when your legs are constantly on the mend. To this point in his career, Beal’s on-court production hasn’t been substantial enough to warrant this kind of max deal, especially with his extensive injury history thrown in.

Remember, this is the same guy who admitted he may need to play the rest of his career on a minutes restriction…at age 22.

Beal’s annual average salary will be $25.6 million — equivalent to a $19.1 million salary under last year’s $70 million cap. If he and Wall really are clashing, this deal is going to look very bad — and be hard to move — when the inevitable split comes, since the Wizards should favor Wall if push comes to shove.

Last season, Beal averaged a career-high 17.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, shooting a career-high 44.9 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three-point range. Unfortunately, his time missed due to injury was a big reason Washington missed the playoffs.

Beal is still young and has All-Star potential, but his relationship with the Wizards’ franchise player is troublesome. The fact that he’s missed roughly 25 percent of his NBA career due to injuries is even worse.

When Washington was excluded from the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, this extension became necessary to ensure the Wizards stay on the path back to relevance. But with Bradley Beal on course to become the next Eric Gordon, a substantial amount of risk comes with it.

Grade: C+

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