What's Next For Washington Wizards After Bradley Beal Declined Player Option

Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal opted out of his $36.4 million player option, making him one of the most coveted free agents in the 2022 class.

ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski predicted that Beal would decline that deal as early as last week.

“It’s very likely that he opts out of his contract and then negotiates that new five-year, $245 million-plus extension to stay with the Wizards. He’s been very consistent that that’s what he wanted to do. Washington is planning for it. They’re trying to find a veteran point guard right now,” Wojnarowski reported on SportsCenter.

With that being the likely scenario, there is a chance that Beal surprises everyone by bolting to another franchise on a four-year deal.

The problem there is that no team can offer him the same amount of money, so it is very likely that he stays in Washington.

As for their need of a veteran point guard, Shams Charania of The Athletic provided some insight as to how they plan on addressing that need in the form of a trade with the Denver Nuggets.

“Denver is nearing trading Monte Morris and Will Barton to Washington in a deal for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith,” Charania reported.

Monte Morris has spent the past five seasons with the Nuggets as the reliever for Jamal Murray, and he played a major role last season while Murray recovered from his ACL tear.

Morris is a more than capable point guard as evidenced by his career-high average in assists last season (4.4), but he did not need to exert as much energy as the main ball-handler because of Nikola Jokic’s presence.

Now with the Wizards, he is expected to mentor 10th overall pick Johnny Davis this season as the franchise looks to develop from within.

Beal has shown little to no indications of leaving the Wizards because of the recent update, and leaving that much money on the table would be a major mistake on his end.

There is no doubt in the minds of Wizards fans that Beal will be on the team for the long haul and has always been their main man since John Wall’s injury issues kept flaring up and was eventually traded for Russell Westbrook.

A core composed of Beal, Davis, Will Barton, Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis plus a bench squad led by sophomores Corey Kispert and Deni Avdija alongside Japanese star Rui Hachimura should be enough to get them to the playoffs and possibly surprise some teams along the way.