Bradley Beal

[hands11]

The big difference in January is that he is hitting 56% of his 3-pointers. He hit just 18% of them in December. Other than that, his numbers are almost exactly the same as before. This is both good news and bad news.

The good news is that it demonstrates that his overall style of game was solid. He has a well-rounded game and does a nice job of filling up the box score, and he plays pretty good D too. Once he hit his shots, he suddenly looked like a pretty good player. The bad news is that he won't maintain a 56% shooting percentage on 3-pointers indefinitely. Once that drops off, his scoring average and TS% are going to dip quite a bit as well.

I think it's a bit premature to think that he has "arrived" or that he is ready to be a consistent starting caliber player. What this is is a taste of what he might become if he continues to develop. I expect plenty more bumps along the way.

He definitely needs to get to the free throw line some more.

That was the missing piece. That 3 ball. But lets not forget that before he start hitting it, one of the more impressive parts of his game was how well he was finishing at the hoop. I didn't expect him to be that good at finishing on a break so early in his career. He is showing some nice body control around the hoop. He got that one baseline dunk and the next attempt is kind of double pumped and worked himself into an open layup.

I think Wall with Temple, Price and Crawford backing up at PG is going to help him get more driving opportunities. More drives, more FTAs. I agree it would be asking a lot for him to keep up this 3 ball rate that high, but even if it drops some, I see help on the way to get him more drives and FTAs to balance that out.

And look. Our young man is getting some love.

http://games.espn.go.com/fba/addeddropped?

2nd most added player in the fantasy league and he is still only at 56.2 so he could stay there for a little while if he can keep it up.

Back in the ROTH dream. Clearly Lillard has the lead but fun to see he could get him name in the race.

Nice to have something we can all get exited about for once. Almost anyone else that does well, someone wants to trade him. Beal does good and everyone is happy. He is only 19 How cool is that.

[blazinskillz]

You you think @hands11 he would be progressing if he wasn't a starter?

[deneem4]

I think he has progressed....since the year started he have been a monster, the exception coming in miami(they had something to prove)...its only 5 games but he is shooting an incredible 56% from three and 42% from the floor...his steals and assists are up as well....hes averaging 18pts/4rebs/3.5asts/ and his turnover #'s are down to 1.2 as well...this comes against great defenses in okc/mia/ind...I feel its coming from Garrett temple getting used to the nba as he has been the best back pg thus far for Washington...and wall coming back can only help the rookie even more...

As for rookie of the yr...
Its lillards trophy....unless beal keep this production up and become more confident and aggressive...he's 3yrs younger than lillard and is on the league worst team..but he's learning to be assertive and make better decisions and with wall coming back i think he can only get better

[MDStar]

Real Deal Beal keeps it going again!

Updated numbers for January:

37 mpg, 44 fg%, 3.7 rpg, 3 apg, 1.4 spg, 17.7 ppg

The only rookie playing better is Lillard:

40 mpg, 44 fg%, 4.4 rpg, 7.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 18 ppg

Our boy Is ballin!!!

[Jimmy Recard]

And a TS% of 53.3

Just getting better and better.

[tontoz]

Who are you kidding? He a bust

[Higga]

Real Deal Beal keeps it going again!

Updated numbers for January:

37 mpg, 44 fg%, 3.7 rpg, 3 apg, 1.4 spg, 17.7 ppg

The only rookie playing better is Lillard:

40 mpg, 44 fg%, 4.4 rpg, 7.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 18 ppg

Our boy Is ballin!!!

Na we should have traded him after five games, because he's clearly a bust.

RealGM Logic.

[nate33]

Real Deal Beal keeps it going again!

Updated numbers for January:

37 mpg, 44 fg%, 3.7 rpg, 3 apg, 1.4 spg, 17.7 ppg

The only rookie playing better is Lillard:

40 mpg, 44 fg%, 4.4 rpg, 7.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 18 ppg

Our boy Is ballin!!!

Na we should have traded him after five games, because he's clearly a bust.

RealGM Logic.

Let's not overstate things. Did anybody on this entire board propose trading him (other than for Harden)? Many, including myself, were very disappointed in Beal earlier this year, but we all understood that it was too early to make any long-term evaluations.

[Ruzious]

It's fun to see a young player improving and becoming a good player. Now, would I still trade him for Ben McLemore? Oh yes. But I'm happy to have Beal on the team - always was.

[tontoz]

Hitting a game tying shot (and game tying fts) against the Nets and then a game winning shot against OKC defnintely seems to be a turning point for him. I think he has broken through the typical rookie nervousness.

He still needs to give a bit more respect to NBA defenders. Sometimes he will take a J or a shot inside that is blocked very easily.

The writing is definitely on the Wall for Crawford. With Beal coming into his own and Wall back, Crawford's minutes will go way down. And having won 3 straight without him has to give Wittman something to chew on.

[DCsOwn]

It's fun to see a young player improving and becoming a good player. Now, would I still trade him for Ben McLemore? Oh yes. But I'm happy to have Beal on the team - always was.

I wouldn't, there's no reason to imo. They both project to be terrific players, Beal is actually younger btw, and Beal has a significantly more powerful build which allows him to deal with the physicality of this level remarkably well for a player his age, and I think he creates for himself better than McLemore does. People claim that McLemore is an elite athlete, but I don't think he rates anymore than slightly better than Beal does in that area (Beal is a criminaly underrated athlete and he demonstrated as much at the combine; We've also seen him almost put multiple NBA players in the rim over the last few weeks and demonstrate tremendous lateral quickness with well above average defense for a young player.) It'll be interesting to see what McLemore's athletic metrics are at the combine and there's no denying that he gets off the ground really well, but he doesn't have an especially devastating first step, he's not Wade in terms of changing ends, and even in terms of his vertical prowess, I dont think he'll do much better with his no step or two step vert than Brad. Maybe an inch or so either way.

McLemore appears a bit longer than Brad and he's had a much better first half of undoubtedly his only collegiate season than Brad, especially shooting the Ball, but remember, he's old for his present station, and some people simply acclimate themselves more quickly to things than others. That reality doesn't necessarily mean that those disparities are permanent. Remember, Beal shot the ball terrifically down the stretch of last season, throughout the SEC tourney and into the NCAA tournament. It was obviously just a matter of comfort in terms of regaining his touch from outside. Beal is shooting 54% from three this month in the NBA, making an impact offensively in the league at 19, he plays a very cerebral game, he's a tremendous, albeit underrated athlete, his character by all reports is spotless, he's a hard worker with apparent leadership skills, his teammates love him etc. I'm very, very comfortable holding onto the kid even if McLemore was readily available as a replacement.

[nate33]

Beal is shooting 54% from three this month in the NBA, making an impact offensively in the league at 19, he plays a very cerebral game, he's a tremendous, albeit underrated athlete, his character by all reports is spotless, he's a hard worker with apparent leadership skills, his teammates love him etc. I'm very, very comfortable holding onto the kid even if McLemore was readily available as a replacement.

I agree with all of this. I was hard on him early, but mostly only because he shot so poorly. If Beal's first 25 games were just a jitters-induced slump and what we see now is the "true" Bradley Beal, then I consider him to be pretty much untouchable.

I just love his overall game. I really like his defense and I like the way the ball never sticks to him. When he gets it, he either shoots, makes an aggressive move, or quickly passes it. And given his age, athleticism, attitude and work ethic, there is every reason to believe that he will continue to get better. He has significantly raised his ceiling, in my opinion. With his tentativeness and poor shooting early on, I thought he might merely be a role player or borderline starter. I now think he can be a bonafide star. Maybe not in the Dwayne Wade category of uber-usage first option shot creators, but possibly as good as guys like Mitch Richmond, Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen, or Joe Johnson. Again, that's his ceiling. He'll probably pan out to be a little below those guys, but he looks to be a quality starter in this league and probably an All-Star at some point in his career.

[Induveca]

Kid has really impressed me in January.

[Illuminaire]

^+1

Excellent post.

[TheKingOfVa360]

It's fun to see a young player improving and becoming a good player. Now, would I still trade him for Ben McLemore? Oh yes. But I'm happy to have Beal on the team - always was.

I wouldn't, there's no reason to imo. They both project to be terrific players, Beal is actually younger btw, and Beal has a significantly more powerful build which allows him to deal with the physicality of this level remarkably well for a player his age, and I think he creates for himself better than McLemore does. People claim that McLemore is an elite athlete, but I don't think he rates anymore than slightly better than Beal does in that area (Beal is a criminaly underrated athlete and he demonstrated as much at the combine; We've also seen him almost put multiple NBA players in the rim over the last few weeks and demonstrate tremendous lateral quickness with well above average defense for a young player.) It'll be interesting to see what McLemore's athletic metrics are at the combine and there's no denying that he gets off the ground really well, but he doesn't have an especially devastating first step, he's not Wade in terms of changing ends, and even in terms of his vertical prowess, I dont think he'll do much better with his no step or two step vert than Brad. Maybe an inch or so either way.

McLemore appears a bit longer than Brad and he's had a much better first half of undoubtedly his only collegiate season than Brad, especially shooting the Ball, but remember, he's old for his present station, and some people simply acclimate themselves more quickly to things than others. That reality doesn't necessarily mean that those disparities are permanent. Remember, Beal shot the ball terrifically down the stretch of last season, throughout the SEC tourney and into the NCAA tournament. It was obviously just a matter of comfort in terms of regaining his touch from outside. Beal is shooting 54% from three this month in the NBA, making an impact offensively in the league at 19, he plays a very cerebral game, he's a tremendous, albeit underrated athlete, his character by all reports is spotless, he's a hard worker with apparent leadership skills, his teammates love him etc. I'm very, very comfortable holding onto the kid even if McLemore was readily available as a replacement.

I agree, I wouldn't trade Beal for an unproven college player who is older than Beal. Beal is looking like he could be a legit star one day and maybe one of the best SG's in the NBA. Wade, Manu, and Kobe are getting old and the only elite SG left is Harden. Beal one day could be one of those elite SG's

[tontoz]

I was thinking about the Joe Johnson comparison the other day. I watched a lot of JJ and he was a big time ball stopper. The ball movement never flowed with the Hawks like it did with the Wizards last night. JJ also didn't get to the rim/ft line much.

If Beal can get close to that level as a player i think he will be more beneficial to the team because he doesn't have the negatives that JJ had. Beal is decisive even at 19. At that age you would think there would be times when he would be holding the ball thinking about what to do but he never does. He just reacts.

[DCZards]

Yup, Double B has the potential to be a star. But hasn't that always been kinda obvious? I think it was. Even when he was struggling with his shot and the Zards were mired in a dreaded losing streak, Beal's composure and body language always suggested, at least to me, that there was something special about the kid.

Beal's all-around game--almost from Day One--belied the fact that he was just 19 years old. Early on, I compared Beal to Mitch Richmond .... and since "The Rock" is one of my all-time favorite NBA players and personalities, I'm sticking with that comparison.

[nate33]

Yup, Double B has the potential to be a star. But hasn't that always been kinda obvious? I think it was. Even when he was struggling with his shot and the Zards were mired in a dreaded losing streak, Beal's composure and body language always suggested, at least to me, that there was something special about the kid.

Beal's composure and body language suggested to me that he would make it in this league, but I had doubts on whether he would make it as a star, or merely as a role player because his shooting was so bad. His extremely poor shooting early on, coupled with his less-than-stellar shooting in college made me wonder if he was really the shooter he was touted to be. I said all along that if his shot improved, then the sky is the limit.

[dobrojim]

Paul George says Hi

[tontoz]

So far he has looked better than i thought he would. Before the season started i resolved to give him a free pass for poor play for the first half of the season because he is so young. Playing in the NBA has to be a bit intimidating at first.

But the NBA season is long and they play a lot of games. After awhile guys stop thinking about playing against Kobe/Harden/whoever and just play their game.