Bradley Beal is going to make $27.1 million in 2019-20. He’ll make $28.8 million the year after that. Then his contract with the Washington Wizards is up, so there’s a possibility he leaves the organization once his deal is done, making him a valuable trade asset — someone the Oklahoma City Thunder could perhaps target as they look to move Steven Adams and possibly others.
But it turns out Beal doesn’t have any interest in playing for the Thunder at this juncture. Well, it’s not just the Thunder. Beal isn’t looking to play for anyone but the team he’s spent his entire NBA career with.
It turns out, the Wizards aren’t looking to trade him either, based on Beal’s comments to reporters after he received the NBA Cares Community Assist Award at the 2019 NBA Awards show in California, per Ben Golliver of The Washington Post.
They’ve been very transparent, and that’s been great. They’re not keeping me in the dark about anything, even about the trade rumors. . . . It’s great having that peace of mind.
That works out for Beal because he’s not looking to go anywhere else just yet.
I still have two years left. We just drafted Rui [Hachimura], and I want to see what we do in free agency before I make the ultimate decision. I haven’t even been offered it officially. Until that happens, I’ll wait and think about it. I’ll have an ample amount of time to process everything and make a decision when the time is right.
He continued:
I’d be naïve to say I wouldn’t be [interested in extension talks]. Washington is where I’ve been the last seven years, going on eight. It would be great to play in one place forever. But at the same time, you want to win and make sure you’re in a position to do so. I’m definitely going to evaluate who we hire as the GM and who we pick up on the team. All that plays a factor.
