Former Florida Gators standout Bradley Beal has absolutely been on fire so far this season for the Washington Wizards as he currently leads the NBA in points per game with an eye-popping 34.7 — almost four full points more than second-place Kevin Durant’s 30.4 per.
However, all is not well in the capital city as the Wiz has limped to a 3-12 start despite Beal’s savage scoring output.
In fact, Beal earned some unwanted infamy on Wednesday night when he dropped 47 points on the New Orleans Pelicans in a losing effort. With that defeat, the “Big Panda” became the first player in league history to lose 10-straight games while scoring at least 40 points. Ouch.
Bradley Beal scored 47 points tonight in a loss to the Pelicans. It's his 10th straight loss when recording at least 40 points.
Beal is the first player in NBA history to lose 10 straight 40-point games h/t @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/LhvTTnUXd1
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 28, 2021
So it should hardly come as a surprise that a shining star on a struggling team would garner some trade interest, especially if Beal can provide the final piece to the puzzle for a franchise with young talent to swap. But that does not quite seem to be in the cards just yet, as Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Washington is not looking to deal its marquee player… yet.
.@WojESPN joins #TheJump with the latest on Bradley Beal, plus just how closely the entire league is watching what develops in Washington. Now that Harden and Giannis are settled for the season, Beal would be the most coveted player on the trade block – if he gets there. pic.twitter.com/DyKh15FUFc
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 28, 2021
Here is Wojnarowski’s breakdown of the Beal deal:
Right now, Bradley’s focus with the Wizards is just on trying to get this season turned around, and trying to get this team on track. Beal when he signed that extension, adding on a couple years to his deal — remember he’s under contract next season, 2021-22, has a player option for 2022-23 — he knew that there was going to be a period that they needed to see growth.
He wanted to see where the Wizards could go as an organization: John Wall was coming back, they brought in Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant, that was a significant injury losing him for the season. This wasn’t the team they envisioned going into the year. The one thing with Beal and the relationship he’s had with that organization is he’s not impetuous with what’s going on. He has been extremely loyal. I think people were surprised when he decided to do that extension given where the team was.
Now, the trade deadline is March 25, that’s less than two months away. You talk to other teams who are all over the league monitoring the Beal situation closely and looking for any inkling to think that he might be coming available. And teams will typically know before anybody else does, before we even report it, that there’s an opening there. And none of them sense that now.
Things change, but right now he’s trying to get this team back on track. But there’s no question that his future, his long-term future, is very uncertain there.
There is absolutely no question that Beal’s future is very uncertain, but much of his destiny lies in how well — and how soon — the Wizards organization can get its product on the court to a higher level. Frankly, it would not be terribly surprising if he is shipped off before the March 25 trade deadline.
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