Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal as scoring guard or facilitator?

Washington Wizards head coach Scott Brooks recently took to the airwaves discussing a new role for Bradley Beal this season. Will he be able to make the adjustment?

The Washington Wizards‘ offseason has seemingly gone exactly the way they intended: calculated.

Last summer, Bradley Beal signed a five-year deal worth $127 million. Next was retaining Otto Porter Jr. and John Wall for a collective $276 million between the two this offseason.

It was a hefty price to pay indeed, but a clear path and plan is in place. The Wizards aren’t trying to just be contenders — they are trying to make a run for a ring.

Maybe not this year or even the next, but certainly in the near future with a young core locked in until at least the 2021-22 season.

Head coach Scott Brooks recently spoke on The Vertical, and to sum up, he wants to use Bradley Beal a little differently this season.

From score-first to pass-first

John Wall and Bradley Beal proved last year they can roll with the best and they are only getting better. What once started as a bitter relationship has molded over into excellent team chemistry.

But the genius of Scott Brooks has yet another tool to add to the already dynamic duo.

"“I knew he was a good player. I knew he had a lot of good offensive skill. But I didn’t really know if he could facilitate as a playmaking, ball-handling 2-guard. As the season went on, I thought we did a better job of really utilizing some of the things that he can do.Going into next season, we can stagger some of his minutes so he doesn’t always have to play with John and vice-versa. They can both help each other and help our team score points with their ability to attract defensive schemes. They’re hard to guard, they both can score, but they both can help their teammates score."

Some Washington Wizards fans are surely thinking that this may be overthinking and trying to fix something that is not broken. However, taking 5-10 minutes from Beal with the starting five and occasionally injecting them into a rotation that has a long road to prove itself could help one of the league’s worst benches.

Having the quality of Beal’ s ability to score at will, but perhaps even bolster the confidence of a young or unproven bench, can only help.

Here is how it can work

Bradley Beal averaged a career high average 34.9 minutes per game last season. Of those minutes, 88 percent of them were shared with John Wall.

Let’s suppose Beal takes an early sub-out during the first quarter during the beginning of the season, just as an example.

The new five on the court could very well be:

1.  Tim Frazier
2. John Wall
3. Otto Porter
4. Markieff Morris
5. Marcin Gortat

Tim Frazier gets extra opportunities and proved capable of stepping up last year for the Pelicans.

1. John Wall
2. Jodie Meeks
3. Otto Porter

While Meeks needs to show he can be durable for a full season, he can be reliable from beyond the arc, which is likely part of why he was brought aboard in the first place.

This means we could possibly see a backcourt rotation of:

1. Tim Frazier
2. Bradley Beal
3. Kelly Oubre Jr.

Or:

1. Bradley Beal
2. Jodie Meeks
3. Kelly Oubre Jr.

In either scenario, this all seems to be a stretch and hoping for a best-case scenario to work. Each player needs to prove capable of consistently hitting the three-ball. Or it may lead to Beal trying to secure a lead all on his own.

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Either way, he has played the minutes needed to prove to be not just durable, but flexible.

Bradley Beal facilitating Kelly Oubre if he can get comfortable early on — or getting the most out of Jodie Meeks — can only be complementary to Beal’s skill-set (if successful).

The Washington Wizards have a starting five that can grind their way through games and dominate on other nights. But a bench that could not assist in closing games out and struggling beyond the arc was the ultimate downfall.

But being the tremendous athlete Beal is, that may make some teammates’ shots just a little more open, with some driving lanes being just a little bit wider.

Next: The biggest winners and losers of 2017 NBA free agency

Bradley Beal may be able to bring success playing in an uncharted role: both the starting 2-guard and sixth man.