Bradley Beal - Part III

[DCZards]

James Harden at age 25:
27.4 points. 7.0 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 0.7 blocks, 4.0 turnovers, .605 TS%, 36.8 min

Bradley Beal since December 28th, the first game after Wall got hurt:
28.2 points, 6.6 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 2.0 steals, 0.6 blocks, 3.2 turnovers, .587 TS%, 38.7 min

Beal plays a few more minutes than Harden, so here are his numbers per 36.8 minutes to provide an apples-to-apples comparison:
26.8 points, 6.3 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 0.6 blocks, 3.0 turnovers, .587 TS%, 36.8 min

On court performance, character, work ethic, leadership---BB has it all going on..

[nate33]

Last night, Beal had 40 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 5 turnovers with a TS% of .660

Tonight, Beal had 40 points, 5 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals and only 1 turnover with a TS% of .954.

That's a pretty good weekend.

[payitforward]

One of the best games ever by a guard -- or any other player.

[nate33]

Beal in the last 35 games since Wall got hurt:

28.9 points
6.6 assists
5.7 boards
2.0 steals
0.6 blocks
3.1 turnovers
38.9 minutes
TS% .599
ORtg 117

[Illmatic12]

With Kemba Walker falling off, it's getting harder to argue that Beal shouldn't be an All-NBA selection
If he is, the Wizards will definitely offer him the supermax and I think he'd be inclined to sign it

Read on Twitter

[nate33]

With Kemba Walker falling off, it's getting harder to argue that Beal shouldn't be an All-NBA selection
If he is, the Wizards will definitely offer him the supermax and I think he'd be inclined to sign it

Read on Twitter

I'd like to see Beal play one more season like this before committing to a supermax, but his current production is arguably worth a supermax.

Since Wall went down, he is posting over 26 points per 36 with an ORtg of 117. Here are the players that are doing that this season:

Giannis
Harden
George
Durant
Curry
Kawhi
Davis
Lillard
Anthony-Towns

Those first 7 names plus Lebron are pretty much the undisputed 8 best players in the league. Beal doesn't have the outrageous volume or efficiency of Harden or Curry and isn't a game changing defender like George, Giannis, Durant, Davis or Kawhi, so he certainly belongs at the bottom of this group. Let's also throw in Jokic and Embiid as better than Beal. Griffin and Simmons have arguments.

One can argue that, since Wall went down, Beal is the 12th-15th best player in the league, give or take.

If you have the 15th best player in the league at age 25, and he wants the supermax, do you give it to him?

[prime1time]

With Kemba Walker falling off, it's getting harder to argue that Beal shouldn't be an All-NBA selection
If he is, the Wizards will definitely offer him the supermax and I think he'd be inclined to sign it

Read on Twitter

I'd like to see Beal play one more season like this before committing to a supermax, but his current production is arguably worth a supermax.

Since Wall went down, he is posting over 26 points per 36 with an ORtg of 117. Here are the players that are doing that this season:

Giannis
Harden
George
Durant
Curry
Kawhi
Davis
Lillard
Anthony-Towns

Those first 7 names plus Lebron are pretty much the undisputed 8 best players in the league. Beal doesn't have the outrageous volume or efficiency of Harden or Curry and isn't a game changing defender like George, Giannis, Durant, Davis or Kawhi, so he certainly belongs at the bottom of this group. Let's also throw in Jokic and Embiid as better than Beal. Griffin and Simmons have arguments.

One can argue that, since Wall went down, Beal is the 12th-15th best player in the league, give or take.

If you have the 15th best player in the league at age 25, and he wants the supermax, do you give it to him?

I'm weary of giving the super max this early but I kind of feel like you have to with Beal. The biggest thing with Beal is that his game is still improving. The toughest thing to do in basketball is to get a top 10 talent. We have one who's game meshes well with other players. We keep him, figure out a way to get rid of Wall and then try to recruit other players to the team. The ascendence of Beal into a top 15 player is a great development. Just look at his demeanor on the court. Not only is Beal playing better he is becoming a leader.

[Illmatic12]

With Kemba Walker falling off, it's getting harder to argue that Beal shouldn't be an All-NBA selection
If he is, the Wizards will definitely offer him the supermax and I think he'd be inclined to sign it

Read on Twitter

I'd like to see Beal play one more season like this before committing to a supermax, but his current production is arguably worth a supermax.

Since Wall went down, he is posting over 26 points per 36 with an ORtg of 117. Here are the players that are doing that this season:

Giannis
Harden
George
Durant
Curry
Kawhi
Davis
Lillard
Anthony-Towns

Those first 7 names plus Lebron are pretty much the undisputed 8 best players in the league. Beal doesn't have the outrageous volume or efficiency of Harden or Curry and isn't a game changing defender like George, Giannis, Durant, Davis or Kawhi, so he certainly belongs at the bottom of this group. Let's also throw in Jokic and Embiid as better than Beal. Griffin and Simmons have arguments.

One can argue that, since Wall went down, Beal is the 12th-15th best player in the league, give or take.

If you have the 15th best player in the league at age 25, and he wants the supermax, do you give it to him?

For a franchise in the Wizards position, yes I think you have to give it to him. If he was a little older you might question it , but he’s 25yo and young enough to fit with whatever direction you want to go in.

Now it’s tough to have two guys on supermaxes, but if Beal signed it this summer his pay raise wouldn’t kick in until 2021-2022 season, at which point there would only be 2 years of overlap with Wall’s supermax. But then , you might be able to trade Wall by that point and now you have a 28yo prime Beal + cap space.

[Dat2U]

Remember I told you guys that running Beal into the ground was just not some futile effort to make the 8th seed but part of the promise Ted made to Beal not to quit on the season and do everything possible to help Beal qualify for the super max.

They are using load management as an excuse to play him so many minutes b/c Beal doesn't practice anymore so they think he can handle a few more minutes per game. I never equated practice minutes to real game time Wizards but apparently they think their smarter than everyone else on this.

A backwards organization that continues to do backwards ass stuff.

[miller31time]

I feel like there are about 3 or 4 guys in the NBA that are actually worth the supermax. Beal is playing great (as are many others in the league) but unless he is SO great that you can afford to field a team of nobodies (except him) and compete for a title (or high playoff seed), it’s just not worth it.

[payitforward]

Lets not take anything away from how well Brad has played lately. & his game last night was just absolutely unreal.

But... for one thing "he has been in the top 12-15 players over the last 34 games" is not the same as "he is one of the 12-15 best players in the league."

Plus, having given a supermax to Wall impacts the decision. We can't pay $80m a year to two guys & hope to field even a .500 team.

This may turn out to be a problem that costs us Brad.

[DCZards]

A month ago I posted this in the “Offseason Thread” in response to suggestions that the Zards trade Beal for draft pick(s). Ain’t nothing changed…other than the fact that Beal has been playing like a Top 10 player in recent weeks.

It would be a mistake to trade Beal. In today’s NBA you need 2 (probably 3) top 25 players to compete for a title. Trading a top 25 player like Beal with the hope of eventually securing 2-3 other top 25 players is a huge gamble.

Beal is young and continues to get better. He has yet to reach his peak, imo. He’s a high-character, high-work ethic guy who plays hard all the time and seems to have fun playing the game. BB is also growing in his role as a team leader. That’s the kind of person you want to be the face of your franchise.

If Beal wants to stay in DC and is committed to doing that, I think the Zards would be wise to build around him.

To me, this is a clear case of “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

[Dark Faze]

Pray he doesn't make the team

[trast66]

Remember I told you guys that running Beal into the ground was just not some futile effort to make the 8th seed but part of the promise Ted made to Beal not to quit on the season and do everything possible to help Beal qualify for the super max.

They are using load management as an excuse to play him so many minutes b/c Beal doesn't practice anymore so they think he can handle a few more minutes per game. I never equated practice minutes to real game time Wizards but apparently they think their smarter than everyone else on this.

A backwards organization that continues to do backwards ass stuff.

Makes sense. What decent GM will take this job? I guess Ted can just ignore what he said, like he did when traded Otto.

[tontoz]

Props for winning Player of the Week

[TheKingOfVa360]

Beal has taken his game to another level. If he can get his 3 pointer back at an elite rate and become a very good defender then he’s a top 10 player. His maturity despite playing for an inept franchise is impressive. If only we could get a real GM to build around him.

[ozthegap]

Relax they are going to give it to klay. Bet.

[nate33]

Relax they are going to give it to klay. Bet.

I just heard on the Bill Simmons show that he'd give the 6th guard slot to Beal, no question. He then went on to lament how it must suck for Beal to be surrounded by such a terrible team.

[Illmatic12]

Relax they are going to give it to klay. Bet.

I just heard on the Bill Simmons show that he'd give the 6th guard slot to Beal, no question. He then went on to lament how it must suck for Beal to be surrounded by such a terrible team.

On The Jump, Rachel Nichols (who I think has a vote) said she'd pick Beal but Amin and Richard Jefferson (not sure if they both have votes) basically laughed at the idea of selecting a player from a team with such a poor record.

Read on Twitter

Also according to Candace Buckner's informal poll:

Read on Twitter

It's hard to get a consensus ,but it really seems that the media is split down the middle on this. Between Beal, Kemba, Klay even Ben Simmons (huge game last night) I think there will be a really close race for that 6th guard spot and the implications are massive for all the teams of those players. It's one of the most interesting storylines to watch for in-between the end of the season and free agency.

[nate33]

It's hard to get a consensus ,but it really seems that the media is split down the middle on this. Between Beal, Kemba, Klay even Ben Simmons (huge game last night) I think there will be a really close race for that 6th guard spot and the implications are massive for all the teams of those players. It's one of the most interesting storylines to watch for in-between the end of the season and free agency.

The 5th and 6th spots are between Westbrook, Beal, Simmons, Klay and Kemba.

I understand that winning matters, but so do teammates. Ben Simmons plays alongside Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris! I think those teammates have something to do with the winning records. Likewise for Klay Thompson who plays alongside 2 of the best 5 players in the league. Blaming Beal for not delivering as many victories as those guys doesn't seem fair to me.

I can grudgingly live with Westbrook getting the 5th slot because OKC isn't THAT loaded outside of Paul George.

I think the 6th spot should come down to Beal or Kemba. Both guys are carrying terrible rosters with impressive numbers. And lately, Beal has been significantly outperforming Kemba, and their team records are almost the same.