Bradley Beal may be leaving some bread crumbs ahead of the offseason.
Speaking this week with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report, the Washington Wizards star seemed to drop a serious hint about his NBA future. Namely, Beal said that he plans to go where he thinks he can win.
“I know what my decision will be based off of, and that’s gonna be where I feel like I can win, that’s going to be my decision,” said Beal. “If I feel like I can win in DC, that’s what I’m gonna do. And I want people to respect that. You may, you may not. But I’m gonna fight my a– off, I’m gonna compete, and I’m gonna try to make this team better. If it’s elsewhere, it’s gonna be the exact same commitment.”
Beal, who averaged 23.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and a career-high 6.6 assists per game this season, has a $36.4 million player option for next year. He is widely expected to turn it down however, especially since he is in his prime at 28 and is coming off a strong season where he made the All-Star team.
Though Beal left the door open for a return to Washington in his remarks, it is hard to envision a scenario where the Wizards pose his best option to win. They have not had a winning season since 2017-18, and that was when pre-injury John Wall was still Beal’s co-star. Unless Washington does something substantial this summer, a supporting cast headlined by Kristaps Porzingis (another oft-injured player) and Kyle Kuzma might not cut it. Perhaps that crazy rumor we previously heard about Beal supposedly wanting to form a superteam elsewhere might not be so crazy after all.
