Bradley Beal Staying in Washington on a 5-Year, $251 Million Deal

Bradley Beal in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017
Bradley Beal in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017. Image by Keith Allison/Wikipedia

All-Star guard Bradley Beal decided to stay with the Washinton Wizards despite being arguably the best player to hit the free market this year. Reportedly, Beal inked a five-year, $251 million deal that will keep him with the franchise through the 2026-27 NBA season.

Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein confirmed the news to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

On the other hand, the Wizards issued a short statement saying that the organization “intends to enter into a player contract with Bradley Beal once the moratorium period ends.”

Bradley Beal previously declined his $36.4 million option with the Wizards to hit this year’s free agency. And while some teams did their due diligence on the three-time All-Star, the message has been that Washington remains Beal’s focus. The Wizards didn’t hesitate to give Beal the best offer they possibly could, and the two sides quickly took care of business.

While Beal would have a better chance to win an NBA title someplace else, the 29-year-old reportedly wants to try and do it with the Wizards. He spent his entire NBA career with the franchise, loves Washington, and is deeply connected with the fans and the community. It also didn’t hurt that staying put was the most lucrative option of them all.

After averaging 30+ points in back-to-back seasons, Beal had a down year by his standards in 2021-22. Dealing with a wrist injury, he only managed to play 40 games and put up 23.2 points, 4.7 boards, and 6.6 assists per contest while shooting a career-low 30 percent from the three-point line. He opted to have surgery on his wrist in February and is expected to make a full recovery in time for the next NBA season.

Gunner's favorite movies are Pulp Fiction, Iron Man (just the first one), and every James Bond film ever made. He's learning TV and cinema and hoping to always enjoy movies as he does now.