By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Bradley Beal has opted to decline his player option worth 37,262,300 dollars and become an unrestricted free agent, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Beal, 29, will be eligible to ink a five-year supermax contract to return to the Washington Wizards or a four-year contract elsewhere in the NBA, according to the rules of the latest collective agreement. The free-agency period of the offseason will launch Thursday evening and the moratorium period will end next Wednesday.
As usual, it will be busy all around the NBA until the most important players becoming free agents make respective decisions regarding their future. The St. Louis-born guard, a product of Florida, will certainly be among the players in demand moving forward into the next few days.
Committing to five more years with the Wizards and inking a supermax contract would earn him a salary up to about $42.7M. Beal has been rumored to be leaning in this direction.
Coming out of Florida in 2012, he was picked up by the Wizards with the 3rd overall pick of the NBA draft, behind Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. The loyal run in Washington stretched to ten seasons in 2021-22 and has produced 690 games played, including 45 in the Playoffs. In addition, he was named to the NBA All-Star Game in 2018, 2019, and 2021.
Competing in the postseason was the theme in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2021. The Wizards reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the first three attempts and were eliminated in the first round in the following two appearances. Beal managed to put up 23.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game.
Regular-season efforts have amounted to 22.1 points, 4.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. Averaging 23.3 points, 6.6 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game painted the picture of his 2021-22 campaign.
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