Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ impressive championship victory this past week, rumors began to spread about how the organization might try to bolster their roster ahead of the team’s upcoming 2020-21 title defense.
One way that multiple prominent Lakers fans – including Snoop Dogg and Shannon Sharpe – suggested they do that is by trading for Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal, who made waves recently by purchasing a home in Los Angeles.
Adding Beal to a lineup that already features LeBron James and Anthony Davis would be downright scary, especially in the current era of super-duos as opposed to Big 3s.
Unfortunately for Lakers fans, however, it doesn’t appear Beal has his heart set on joining the 2019-20 champions, at least not right now, even with his eyebrow-raising real-estate purchase.
Beal recently joined the On the Road with Buck & Phil podcast and discussed his future with the Wizards after signing his two-year, nearly $72 million extension with Washington last October. Here’s part of what he had to say when asked what it would mean for him to stay in D.C. for his entire career:
“That would mean the world, man. I’m a loyal guy. I want to be here. I’m here. I’ve signed my extension. And that will mean the world to me. That honestly would you know, being able to finish your career in one place? You know, you don’t see that in today’s game.”
Of course, we’ve heard talk like that from players before and, as we’ve learned time and time again, things can change quickly.
However, Beal legitimately does seem motivated to make things work with the Wizards, even revealing hopes to recruit players to join him in Washington:
“So that would definitely be an honor, you know, but my ultimate goal is to win. I want to win and we got to win. And I know we can win. I know it’s a place where we can win and I know it’s a place where we can get guys to come here to win. But we got to go prove it on the floor for sure.”
If the Wizards aren’t able to create a winner around Beal soon, then maybe we’ll see a hint of discontent from the 27-year-old. The soonest he can hit free agency is 2022, the year after the loaded 2021 class will have signed new contracts, meaning he’s set to get paid two summers from now, be it by Washington or another team.
Nevertheless, for now, it appears Beal is more than happy in his current situation.
Commendable of the two-time All-Star to try and make things work with the Wizards as opposed to looking for the easy way out to form a super team elsewhere. That type of loyalty from star players isn’t as common as it used to be.
