Bradley Beal, Wizards Agree to 5-Year, $251M Supermax Contract to Open Free Agency
June 30, 2022
Guard Bradley Beal is set to remain with the Washington Wizards for the long haul after agreeing to a lucrative five-year, $251 million supermax contract extension, his agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Beal had become an unrestricted free agent after opting out of the final year of his contract with the Wizards.
The 29-year-old Beal has developed into one of the NBA's best offensive shooting guards since the Wizards selected him with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft out of the University of Florida.
During his 10-year career, Beal has earned three All-Star nods and boasts averages of 22.1 points, 4.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 three-pointers made and 1.1 steals per game in 645 contests.
He has also been a relatively efficient scorer, shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from beyond the arc.
After averaging over 22.0 points per game in three consecutive seasons, Beal began to enter elite territory in 2019-20 when he averaged 30.5 points per game, which was a career high to that point.
He got even better the following year, averaging 31.3 points while shooting a career-best 48.5 percent from the floor. Beal also received his first All-NBA selection that year, making the All-NBA Third Team.
Expectations were through the roof for Beal entering last season, but a wrist injury that required surgery limited him to a career-low 40 games.
Even when he played, Beal had his worst scoring output in years, averaging 23.2 points and 1.6 three-pointers made per game. He also shot a career-worst 30 percent from three-point range.
Beal did average a career-high 6.6 assists per game, however, illustrating the lack of help he had in Washington's backcourt.
While Beal never publicly asked for a trade or expressed a desire to leave Washington, there was some speculation that he would leave for greener pastures.
In addition to the Wizards failing to provide him with a quality backcourt running mate, the team hasn't enjoyed much success over the years, reaching the playoffs just once in the past four seasons and not winning a playoff series since 2017.
Despite that, Beal remains committed to making the Wizards a contender, and re-signing with the franchise is a move that could potentially lure in other quality players to Washington via free agency.