With the NBA's salary cap spiking to never-before-seen heights this offseason, free agents are set to cash in like never before. Among the crop of available talent will be Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal.
Beal, a pending restricted free agent, has previously suggested that he would leave the Wizards if they did not offer him a max salary contract (assuming another team signs him to a max offer sheet this summer).
"I want to be valued the right way," Beal said. "I feel like I'm a max player, and that's what I'm looking for. If Washington can't meet that requirement, then I may be thinking elsewhere. I'm pretty sure that they probably won't (let me go). At the end of the day, that's where I want to be. I think a deal will probably get done, but you just never know."
Given Beal's extensive injury history - he's appeared in just 247 of a possible 328 regular season games and just 55 in 2015 - it was unknown if Washington was willing to pay max money to retain him. Such an injury risk would not typically receive such a significant financial investment. However, it now appears as if the team will be willing to commit as many resources as needed.
According to Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post, the Wizards are rumored to be offering Beal a five-year max deal. Why is Washington going out on a limb for their talented yet oft-injured two guard?
"Because the Wizards believe in his potential. More to the point, they don't have a reasonable alternative," Castillo wrote. Alan Anderson and Marcus Thornton are behind Beal on Washington's depth chart.
A max offer at five years would pay Beal around $124.2 million, as the salary cap rises to $92 million next season. His average annual salary would start north of $20 million. Beal posted averages of 17.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists this past season while shooting almost 39 percent from 3-point range. Washington has made the postseason twice in Beal's four years in the NBA.
