The Washington Wizards hope John Wall and Bradley Beal stay in Washington for a long time, and it sounds like ownership is willing to pay to make that happen.
Wall and Beal got some run in an SB Nation feature this week that included some strong language from Wizards owner Ted Leonsis about the future of both players.
The piece’s narrative centers around why Ben’s Chili Bowl choose to replace their outdated mural — which included the now-disgraced Bill Cosby — with a painting of Wall and Beal in Wizards uniforms. Though the mural is temporary, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis thinks Beal and Wall will be there permanently.
“John will be here for his career,” Leonsis said. “We don’t take him for granted, we love him. Brad will be here his whole career. Once they start to be recognized as being great players, and some of the other great players in the league start to age out, then you have other players who go, ‘Well I want to play with the Wizards.’ If I play with John Wall, I’m going to get paid.’”
That’s a pretty firm commitment from the Wizards that they hope Wall stays in Washington, with Beal to boot. Beal is already under contract until he’s 28, while Wall is scheduled to be a free agent in 2019. There hasn’t been much in the way of rumblings that Wall wants out, but there’s always the chance a superstar gets frustrated with the franchise he’s been with his entire career and gets antsy. Washington is clearly hoping to make sure that never happens.
Winning this postseason would help, and despite looking outmatched in the first two games against Boston — mostly thanks to Isaiah Thomas — Washington bounced back in a big way on Thursday night and they definitely have the talent to make a series of this. That would be huge for the #DCFamily that hopes he stays in the neighborhood a long, long time.
