Bradley Beal has a player option for next season that he is widely expected to decline, but that does not mean the Washington Wizards star wants a fresh start elsewhere.
If Beal declines his $36.4 million player option, he will be eligible to sign a five-year max extension with the Wizards worth nearly $250 million. Other teams could offer the star guard roughly $180 million over four seasons. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Beal is very likely to decline his option and sign a max extension with Washington.
Trade rumors have followed Beal for years. A lot of that is the result of him playing for a team that has not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2017. There has been an assumption that Beal will eventually want to play for a contender, but he has never publicly requested a trade. There have been no indications that he has done so privately, either.
Beal, 28, would be one of the most coveted players in the NBA if he became a free agent. He said recently that he has made a decision about his future but does not want to share it just yet.
In the event that Beal does leave Washington, oddsmakers have listed a surprising team as the favorite to land him.
