Wizards End Bradley Beal Era With a Whimper

Washington mismanaged every step it took with its superstar guard over the last few years, and gets a failing grade on its deal with Phoenix as a result.

Bradley Beal will finally play for a championship contender.

The Wizards are trading the three-time All-Star to the Suns, according to multiple reports. Washington will acquire Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, and multiple second-round picks in the deal. Paul’s contract is not fully guaranteed for next season, while Shamet has three years left on his contract.

Beal, who will be 30 by the start of the season, averaged 23.2 points per game last year. He has four years left on the $251 million extension he signed with the Wizards last summer, and will retain his full no-trade clause with Phoenix.

Let’s grade the deal.

Bradley Beal is a three-time All-Star, but he’s missed 74 games the past two seasons due to injuries and his last five seasons are his worst five in terms of three-point shooting percentage :: Rich Storry/USA TODAY Sports

Suns: B

On paper, a quartet of Beal, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton is very exciting. However, the salary cap ramifications of this trade for Phoenix are significant, and it cools what is otherwise a very intriguing move.

Beal, Book, KD and Ayton will combine to make over $160 million next season. Outside of retaining their own free agents—most of whom didn’t make much impact in the playoffs—the Suns will only be able to sign minimum players to support its big four. Under the new CBA, Phoenix will be a second-apron tax team, which severely restricts the front office’s ability to fill out the roster. In the past, it would have been easier to build around this team. Now, the Suns still need a starting point guard, wing defense, and competent depth, all of which will have to be creatively acquired. (Oh, and remember that Book, Beal and KD all missed significant time last year.)

Phoenix is betting its top-line talent will compensate for what will almost be a flawed roster beyond the top four. Ayton could also possibly be moved for multiple players, though that would seem to negate the idea of hiring Frank Vogel for his success with big men.

On the court, the Suns now have three of the premier three-level scorers in the game. Beal, Booker and Durant are all adept at getting to the rim, punishing teams from midrange, and hitting threes at high volume. But the rest of the roster will be a giant question mark. While I thoroughly respect Phoenix for flashing a middle finger at the punitive measures of the new CBA, their limited avenues to building around the core four make me stop short of full-on excitement for the deal.

Wizards: F

This is an embarrassing end to a series of bad front office decisions for Washington. Yes, it’s not new president Michael Winger’s fault he was left with this team’s mess, but the Beal era could not have come to a more disappointing conclusion in D.C..

The Wizards erred greatly in not only giving Beal a supermax, but also giving him a no-trade clause. His trade value plummeted as a result. Washington is getting nothing outside of cap relief here. Chris Paul will almost certainly be waived (or potentially join a third team that's roped into the deal, though that move shouldn’t be expected to bring back much to the Wizards). Second-round picks don’t move the needle. And I’ll be surprised if Shamet plays out his contract with the Wizards, though it’s hilarious that even in a salary-clearing move Washington acquired a guy with three more years on his deal.

The only way for Washington to have salvaged something with Beal would have been to trade him years ago. Or not have given him a supermax. Or at the very bare minimum not have given him the no-trade clause. The Wizards failed on every front. And now they have nothing to show for the last five years of Beal’s prime.