It feels like not a day goes by where someone doesn’t speculate about what the future holds for Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal. One of the league’s most dynamic scorers and someone who would legitimately help all 29 other NBA teams win basketball games, Beal is on a Wizards squad that has the worst record in the NBA and fits the profile of being someone whose name will exist in trade talks so long as that’s the case.
The issue with all of this is that Beal has made clear on numerous occasions over the years that he has zero intention of ever seeking out a trade, something that has been the case a number of times this season. And on Tuesday morning, a report from Shams Charania and Fred Katz of The Athletic indicates that Beal has gotten frustrated about his situation.
The catch: Beal’s frustration stems from “the portrayal portrayal” of what things are like for him in D.C., not that he wants out due to how the Wizards’ season has gone.
Beal has so far expressed he wants to remain in Washington and has not indicated he prefers to be traded, sources with knowledge of the situation tell The Athletic. The Wizards, in turn, have no interest in trading him. Amid calls from the general public and even ones from around the league that a team at the bottom of the standings would be best off dealing its prized player, Washington has made it clear it has no plans to move him.
He is privately frustrated and confused with the perpetual portrayal of his situation, according to sources familiar with his thinking. After seeing other players take criticism for requesting to leave teams, those sources say Beal feels he’s getting nitpicked for choosing to stay in D.C., where he began his NBA career in 2012. He felt similarly when he signed an extension in October 2019. Speculation about his future has swirled since before then.
This does track with, well, everything that both the team and Beal have said about his future — while losing is something he does not like, he has developed incredibly strong ties to the franchise and the city during his tenure. Now, there have been situations where it has looked like Beal’s frustration has appeared to boil over, most notably in the first half of the Wizards’ game against the Nets on Sunday, but even with that specific case, he ended up playing an outstanding second half in which he teamed up with Russell Westbrook to take down Brooklyn in the game’s waning moments.
Barring something totally out of left field, it would appear that we could put to bed any notion that Beal wants out of Washington, even if that won’t stop fans of the league’s other 29 teams from taking to the trade machine and trying to figure out he can add them to their squad.
