Bradley Beal addresses free agency rumors

Green directly mentioned the recent report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania that the Miami Heat are expected to go after Beal if he considers leaving the Wizards. (In the same story, it was reported that the Philadelphia 76ers worked on a Beal deal involving Ben Simmons before Beal underwent season-ending wrist surgery, which jibes with other information that has come to light since the trade deadline.) “I’m kind of embracing everything,” Beal said, “so I’m not upset about the rumors, I’m not upset about, you know, teams wanting me. I feel like that’s a good thing, right? We put in the work and we’re wanted by a lot of people, not just where we’re at.”
Source: CBSSports.com

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Chase Hughes @ChaseHughesNBCS
Twice in the last week, Kristaps Porzingis has essentially taken over late to lift the Wizards to a win. That seems like a good sign as we ponder what he will look like alongside Bradley Beal. nbcsports.com/washington/wiz… – 1:47 PM

Bradley Beal @RealDealBeal23
C LOVE – 12:03 AM

Neil Dalal @NeilDalal96
Bradley Beal confirmed how the John Wall era ended
After events during Summer 2020: “They [management] were like, we’re done.”
“It was out of my hands. I was coming to camp thinking John’s ready to go.”
“If I could go back, I wish we could’ve had [one more shot].” – 5:25 PM

Quinton Mayo @RealQuintonMayo
“I want to be playing in late June. That’s what I want.”
Bradley Beal on his impending free agency via the @Draymond Green Show – 3:26 PM

Bradley Beal @RealDealBeal23
We come a long way @Draymond Green 😂
Thanks for having me on the show: https://t.co/eu0O6FkJVT pic.twitter.com/JYG02tXrOs – 2:55 PM

CBS NBA @CBSSportsNBA
Bradley Beal discusses his free agency, Wizards’ future on Draymond Green’s podcast: ‘I want to do it here’
https://t.co/hR1e6iqrOW pic.twitter.com/0FLXTXCMLS – 12:14 PM

More on this storyline

Beal said that he knows “it’s a lot of noise” and “it can be distracting at times,” but told Green that “you know as well as I know it’s nothing better than grinding it out and kind of doing it on your own.” He said he loves and respects that Washington “hasn’t been shopping me,” and rather been “hanging up the phone” when teams call about him.  He continued: “It’s kind of funny. I’ve never been a free agent. It’s kind of reminding me of college recruiting. Like I hear every single game somebody’s recruiting me. Someone’s like tagging on me, whether it’s another player or whether it may be a coach or whoever it may be, somebody’s chit-chatting: ‘B, what you want to do this summer? What you doing this summer?'” -via CBSSports.com / March 27, 2022

Beal has said this kind of thing before, and, while he emphasized that he has great communication wish Washington, he was also honest about the position that the franchise has been in for years. “We’ve always been a team that has kind of been right in the middle of the pack, right in limbo,” Beal said. “We’re either a player away or a few possessions away from being a top-four seed or a bottom-eight seed. So that’s kind of always been our downfall. And then you look at it, it’s like, when you’re drafting in that, you’re drafting from mid-, late lottery.” -via CBSSports.com / March 27, 2022

Neil Dalal: Bradley Beal on The Draymond Green Show wishes the Wizards were a more attractive free agency destination because DC is a great sports town, but knows that lack of winning big & history of locker room drama has hurt them. Alludes trade is the more likely avenue of adding talent. -via Twitter @NeilDalal96 / March 24, 2022