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Washington Wizards 2016-2017 Season Preview: 3 Keys to Bradley Beal Breaking Out

By Ben Mehic

Mar 14, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) dribbles the ball past Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson (1) during the second half at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 124-81. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 14, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) dribbles the ball past Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson (1) during the second half at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 124-81. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal is looking to have a breakout season in 2017. Here are three keys to ensuring that happens.

The blueprint has been set. If you want to win an NBA championship, you’re going to need three All-Star caliber players.

Currently, the Washington Wizards only have one All-Star in John Wall.

Wall, who still has room to improve, has become a perennial All-Star in D.C. He often doesn’t get the credit he deserves for becoming a top point guard in an environment that’s failed to breed success.

A 20 and 10 point guard, Wall is someone who’s made all of his teammates around him better. He’s gotten Trevor Ariza, Martell Webster and Jared Dudley paid. That list will undoubtedly grow.

But, for some reason, the Wizards haven’t attracted a star in free agency yet.

Washington’s only hope of getting another star is developing one within their system.

Now that Scott Brooks, a renowned player developer, is leading the charge, the Wizards are hopeful that their young talent will blossom and reach their potential in the district.

Bradley Beal, a former third overall pick, is someone the Wizards are hoping could take that next step towards stardom next to Wall.

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After signing a five-year max contract worth $128 million, Beal is now the highest paid player in Wizards history.

He’s shown flashes of greatness in the NBA Playoffs, where he’s averaged 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists en route to two series victories.

Beal also put up over 25 points per game at the beginning of the season last year before injuries derailed his momentum.

We know what Beal is capable of doing. He’s done it on the brightest stage the NBA has to offer.

For him to become a star, though, he has to do it consistently throughout the course of an 82 game season.

Injuries are the main factor that’s stopped Beal from becoming a star. But, there are also some things he can do on the court in order to take that next step.

The season is right around the corner and Beal is entering the most important year of his career.

As strange as it is, Beal is going into his fifth season with the Washington Wizards and we still don’t know have a large enough sample size to make a conclusion about him as a player. That’s why Wizards fans, and the franchise, have remained positive about his upside.

Here are three keys to Beal’s breakout season, which could happen in 2016-17.

1) Free throws aren’t free

Beal’s jump shot is pure. He’s been compared to Ray Allen, who has picture-perfect form. There’s no greater compliment than that for a shooter.

But he’s not Allen – not even close.

Beal is an elite 3-point shooter, knocking down roughly 40 percent of his shots from deep in four seasons. We know he can stroke it from three. Before he becomes an elite “shooter,” though, and not just a player who can hit threes, he needs to make his free throws.

There’s nothing more frustrating than watching a player like Beal, whose form is flawless, struggle at the charity stripe. Beal shot a career-low 76.7 percent from the line this past season. That has to improve.

In terms of frustration, Beal is in rare company.

Michael Dickerson and Dale Davis are the only other players in NBA history with career averages of over 15 points, over 39 percent from three, and less than 80 percent from the free throw line (h/t @Nkuchibhotla for this stat).

Basically, Beal is too good of a shooter to not be among the league leaders in free throw percentage.

2) Take some pressure off John Wall

Wall is the only player on the Washington Wizards’ roster who can consistently create for himself and others. Everyone else is completely dependent on his play. If Wall has an off game, there’s a solid chance Marcin Gortat, Otto Porter and the rest of the supporting cast will too.

Washington’s front office failed to find a player that isn’t dependent on Wall this summer. We’ve yet to see Tomas Satoransky play, so we’ll reserve our judgement on him until he steps onto the court.

Beal can’t become another one of those dependent players.

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He needs to feel more confident in his ball handling, but minimize the amount of it he does in traffic.

Like anything, dribbling is beneficial in moderation.

There are players in the league with legit ball handling skills, but they don’t know when to use it.

They often dribble themselves into bad shots, or just look out of control and the offense breaks down as a result.

Beal will never be a Kyrie Irving or Jamal Crawford with the ball in his hands, but there are certain things he can do to maximize his possessions.

Klay Thompson is a perfect example for Beal in this regard.

Thompson rarely does anything flashy with the ball in his hands, but knows how to utilize space. The opposition is so afraid of Thompson from deep that he often finds himself getting a clean look inside following a simple head fake and two dribbles.

Thompson has worked on lowering his shoulder, keeping the ball close to his hip and getting to the basket without over dribbling.

Beal has to take a page out of Thompson’s book.

No one expects Beal to become an incredible dribbler over night, but that shouldn’t be his goal either.

If he makes the most out of his possessions without dribbling into double teams or traffic, he’ll end up getting better shots inside – just like Thompson has done.

3) Cut the mid-range jump shots out, for real this time

One of Beal’s primary goals this past season was to cut long twos out of his game. He put serious effort into not stepping into deep shots unless they were beyond the 3-point arc. He would go as far as to look up at the jumbotron to see where his feet were placed.

As the Wizards’ season started to crumble, so did Beal’s effort into not taking those bad shots.

Last season, Beal led the Washington Wizards in 3-point attempts per game with 4.9, but that number should be higher.

Just to keep the comparison alive, Thompson shot 8.1 threes per game this past season.

Beal still finds himself dribbling into long two point shots, so that’s why this key considers the previous one too. If Beal isn’t putting the ball down on the floor, that means he’s moving without it and finding looks from deep.

Over 40 percent of Beal’s shot attempts last season came from 10 to 16 feet away from the basket. Those shots are bad, to put it bluntly. He’s not LaMarcus Aldridge. For the vast majority of the league, those mid-range jump shots end up becoming wasted possessions.

Next: 5 Factors to the Wizards' Return to Contention

Beal was essentially tied with Matt Barnes for 3-point attempts per game last season. They were both 25th in the league. As an elite 3-point shooter, Beal has to take more shots from deep instead of taking what the defense gives him.

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