Bradley Beal Contract: Latest News, Rumors on Negotiations with Wizards

Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards have broken off contract talks until next summer and will not reach a deal before Nov. 2 deadline. 

Continue for updates.

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Agent Confirms Beal Will Become Restricted Free Agent

Monday, Nov. 2

"I've talked with (president) Ernie (Grunfeld) since July," Mark Bartelstein, Beal's agent, told J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic. "We decided it was best to wait when it makes better sense for both sides."

Bartelstein added it was a "mutual decision" for the two sides to wait until the summer.

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Beal Was Always Likely to Test Free Agent Market

This has seemed to be the most likely course of action for months, given the reports that surfaced during the preseason.

According to the Washington Post's Jorge Castillo on Sept. 25, the Wizards offered Beal an extension for less than the maximum in the offseason, but the deal didn't appeal to the rising star. Days later, Beal told reporters he hadn't received an offer, per Castillo.

At this point, the discrepancy is a matter of semantics. Under the tenets of the rising salary cap, Beal should be worth a max contract, and with that knowledge in hand, it never made sense for him to ink an extension for lower than his future market value.

In other words, this is more of a problem for the Wizards than it is for Beal. As Castillo noted in September, signing Beal now would have been ideal for the Wizards because it would have given them "maximum salary-cap flexibility for free agents in July."

As long as Washington extends a qualifying offer worth $7.4 million to Beal next summer, it will have the right to match any offers he receives as a restricted free agent. 

Salary information courtesy of BasketballInsiders.com.