With suitors reaching out, the Washington Wizards and Bradley Beal are working together in case the franchise decides to trade the three-time All-Star, according to multiple reports.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein is in close contact with team president Michael Winger as other teams are already inquiring. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, it’s not yet clear whether Washington intends to launch a rebuild under Winger and general manager Will Dawkins, who have both been hired in recent weeks. If they do, they’ve already made a deal with Beal to work together on a trade. The Miami Heat are among the teams interested in Beal, according to Charania.
Beal still has four years left on his five-year, $251 million contract which includes a $57 million player option in the final year. He will turn 30 on June 28. It also has a no-trade clause. Bartelstein would be directly involved in all trade discussions between the Wizards and interested teams, Wojnarowski reports.
Beal signed the contract under the previous team led by then-president and chief executive Tommy Sheppard, who was fired in April. Owner Ted Leonsis hired Winger in May to oversee the G-League’s Wizards, Mystics and Capital City Go-Go. He has full authority to reshape the team in his image and oversaw the hiring of Dawkins.
The team is awaiting player option decisions from center Kristaps Porzingis and forward Kyle Kuzma, both of whom would become unrestricted free agents if they opted out of their contracts. The NBA draft is June 22 and free agency begins July 1.
Beal has played his entire 11-season career with the Wizards since being drafted third overall from Florida in 2012. The Wizards have made the playoffs five times since Beal’s draft, never making it past the second round . They missed the playoffs this season for the fourth time in five years after going 35-47.
Beal averaged 23.2 points, 5.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game last season while shooting 50.6 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from 3-point range. It was limited to 50 games. He last made the All-Star team in the 2020-21 season, when he averaged a career-high 31.3 points per game.