Wizards fans are used to the noise by now, it is constant and unrelenting. The ever-persistent speculation that Washington should, or will trade Bradley Beal becomes more prevalent with every season, with every postseason failure. It comes from all angles, in Twitter back-and-forths, mentioned in passing in casual conversations when someone mentions they are a Wizards fan.
Being of the opinion that Bradley Beal’s career would be best suited as the second option on a contender is certainly not uncommon, nor is it absurd in its premises. Bradley Beal is in the prime of his career right now, coming off a season in which he nearly took home the NBA’s scoring title, averaging 31.3 points per game. At 28 years old and with no major injury history, he likely has several years of high-level production left before he begins to decline athletically. There are undoubtedly many teams, such as the Warriors and Celtics, who would love to add Beal to their already strong roster compositions. The addition of Beal would likely vault them into true title-contending status. For the Wizards, however, their front office must do everything in its power to retain him for as long as possible.Â
The NBA is a league that is dominated by big markets, there is a reason why the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks are considered some of the greatest franchises in NBA history. Both teams are located in huge sports cities that have the requisite money, fans, and media exposure to be a place that stars want to come and play. In recent history, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Julius Randle, James Harden and Anthony Davis have willingly taken their talents to one of these markets because of the opportunities it would provide them. Many of them left smaller markets like New Orleans, Charlotte, and Houston to pursue the opportunities playing in a larger market provides.
There are few opportunities as a smaller market team in the NBA to add these kinds of players. The best they can do is hope that you draft well, and maybe over the course of several years, they can surround them with role players through the draft and through trades. Ultimately, however, these teams are hoping that they add enough talent that their homegrown star does not leave. This formula works sometimes, the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and pre-Durant Golden State Warriors immediately come to mind, but often what happens is that stars become disgruntled and leave for greener pastures (see Harden, Durant, Kawhi Leonard).Â
The Wizards are one of these smaller market teams, and while Beal forcing his way out of D.C. would almost certainly improve his own situation, it would leave the Wizards in a deep hole. Almost all the smaller teams who have been forced to trade away a marquee player have entered a deep rebuild or are toiling in mediocrity (Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs). Trading away Beal might net the Wizards a solid compensatory package of players and picks, but it would also likely mean that the franchise commits to losing games for the next half-decade or so.Â
Sometimes being a Wizards fan is like being stuck in some sort of basketball purgatory. The average finishes in the standings can feel like a perpetual curse that can only be broken by a full-scale rebuild. This is the easy way out. Adopt the model of teams like the Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies and continue to marginally improve the roster every year through the draft and smart salary dumping trades. It is always the hardest to get the first guy, and there is a shortlist of players in the NBA currently capable of averaging over 30 points per game on an almost 50 percent field goal percentage. Squandering the opportunity to build around Beal to enter a rebuild that has no guarantees of ending with a championship is both lazy and unnecessarily risky. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. The Wizards’ best bet is to hope they can build something that other stars want to be a part of in the near future. Here’s to hoping general manager Tommy Sheppard and company are up to the challenge.
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