NBA Trade Rumors: Bradley Beal Flattered With Interest But Fine Being A Wizard

It wasn't too long ago when Bradley Beal was one of the hottest names on the NBA trading block. He admits that it was all flattering but maintained that he isn't a fan of change and starting over. Now, he intends to use that as motivation moving forward with the Washington Wizards.

"You want to be more productive when you're on the block. ... It's kind of a two-fold thing. On one hand, you're kind of excited about it. On the other hand, you're kind of bummed by it," said Beal in an interview with Hoops Hype.

To recall, the Wizards made everyone on the roster available back in November. Beal drew a lot of attention from teams in need of a scorer to help free up space in the middle. The months went by and most ended up as no more than rumors. Now, Beal finds himself stuck with a team that he apparently did not want to leave in the first place.

As mentioned in a previous report, the Wizards could be grooming Beal as the team's next franchise player. Although that title still belongs to John Wall, the fact that the 28-year-old NBA All-Star has been hampered by frequent injuries places a big question mark on his durability in the long run.

The top pick of the 2010 NBA Draft has been proven to weather adversity from past injuries but with these accumulating, it begs to ask how long he can do so.

And it seems that Beal has become the focal point for the Wizards moving forward. He and team owner Ted Leonsis did discuss the ballclub's future and the 25-year-old seems pretty convinced that the Wizards will eventually get over the hump, the Washington Times reported.

In another report, it was mentioned that Beal was allegedly recruiting other NBA stars on potentially joining the Wizards. While most feel that this was unlikely, simply opening conversations of joining him to the Washington fold could produce big results. It may mean nothing now but something in the near future. The earliest time to gauge that could be in July.

The Wizards face tall odds of making the NBA playoffs with about 22 games remaining in the 2018-18 regular season. With most of their stars gone, expect Washington to be among the silent operators this summer.