Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal on pace for a record-setting season

At this rate, Bradley Beal’s name will live on in the Washington Wizards record books for years.

The Washington Wizards are having their best offensive season in franchise history. This year’s team currently has a better offensive rating than any team in franchise history by nearly four points, per Basketball-Reference. They are second in the NBA in scoring and average more attempts from the field than any other team in the NBA.

There have certainly been some surprising studs on this Wizards offense. Davis Bertans has been a flamethrower from outside. Moritz Wagner looks like he’ll be the latest former Los Angeles Lakers center to find success in D.C. after Thomas Bryant‘s breakout season last year.

But as we all know, the man who makes everything go in Washington is Bradley Beal. Beal was incredible last season, posting the first 25-5-5 season in franchise history. And this year, with even more pressure on the All-Star shooting guard, Beal is leading on of the NBA’s best offenses while putting up record-setting numbers.

We knew Beal would be running the show this season while John Wall rehabs his Achilles, we just didn’t think he’d be running this show.

At his current pace, Beal has the chance to rewrite the franchise record books by season’s end. He’s already joined the 10,000-point club this season, becoming just one of just five players to do so in a Wizards/Bullets jersey. The way he’s currently scoring, Beal will pass Wes Unseld for fourth on the all-time list before the end of 2019. By the end of January, he could pass Wall for third.

The cumulative records are impressive. Beal is eighth in total assists, fifth in scoring, and holds the record for total three-pointers made. But a look at the leading single-season marks shows you just how crazy of a season Beal is on pace to have.

Bradley Beal is currently second in the NBA in scoring. His career-best 30.7 points per game trail only James Harden. No player in franchise history has averaged 30 or more points per game since Walt Bellamy did it in 1962.

In less than shocking news, Beal has the green light every time he touches the ball. He’s averaging 22.8 field goal attempts and 8.5 three-point attempts per game this season. Both are career-highs for the Wizards’ leading man.

At this rate, Beal will take 1869 attempts from the field this season and make 885 of them. In franchise history, both of those marks are second only to Bellamy’s totals from his 1962 season: 1875 attempts and 973 makes. Beal’s also on pace to reset his own records for three-point attempts and makes in a season.

Beal isn’t just scoring a bunch, though. He’s also averaging a career-high 7.1 assists and posting a career-high usage rate of 32.2. Only Michael Jordan and Bernard King have had higher usage rates for the Wizards/Bullets in a single season.

Of course, Beal’s not doing everything himself. The Wizards are one of the NBA’s best offenses largely because they get contributions from all over the roster. They lead the NBA in assists and have the league’s second-highest scoring bench. Beal, though, is certainly doing more than anyone else out there. He is in rare form right now, and the record books will soon reflect that.