Bradley Beal Says His Market 'Wasn't Too Promising' Before Wizards Contract Extension

Bradley Beal has spent his entire NBA career with the Washington Wizards and decided to keep it that way this offseason when he agreed to a five-year supermax contract after opting out of the final year of his previous deal.

But he at least considered what it would be like leaving.

"I was definitely like being human and thinking about it," he said during a discussion with JJ Redick for The Old Man & The Three podcast. "I was thinking about what it would be like on the other side and different teams and seeing what was available for me. I did do that. And, like I said, the market was what it was and it wasn't too promising. It wasn't necessarily where I wanted to go, what I want to do."

Redick also asked if he has ever considered leaving the Wizards and perhaps teaming up with another star, and Beal said "for sure" while explaining that part of the concern would be his landing spot giving up too much in a trade to remain competitive even after acquiring him.

There wasn't much drama with Beal this offseason, as he agreed to the $251 million supermax contract early and didn't drag out his decision.

The money surely played a factor, as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington explained in June that the supermax from the Wizards was approximately $64 million more than another team could have offered.

Beal specifically mentioning the market plays into that assumption, and it was surely hard to turn that type of contract down even if Washington is coming off a 35-47 season and hasn't made it past the second round of the playoffs since selecting the guard with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2012 NBA draft.

The Florida product dealt with injury concerns last season on his way to just 40 games, but other teams likely wouldn't have hesitated to sign a 29-year-old who scored 31.3 points per game during the 2020-21 campaign.

He is a three-time All-Star who can take over games as a scorer and hit from the outside but hasn't been much of a factor in the postseason due to Washington's mediocre record during his career.

Perhaps Beal could have looked to change that by signing elsewhere, but he is focused on bringing a winner to Washington in the next stage of his career.