Bradley Beal signed his Supermax extension with the Wizards, as expected. There was a late twist that no one saw coming, though. It was indeed a shocker when it was revealed that Bradley Beal, and his agent Mark Bartelstein, had secured a No-Trade Clause in the contract.
The true No-Trade Clause is extremely rare in the NBA, especially right now. In fact, Beal is the only player in the entire NBA that has a true no-trade clause. Even more eye-popping, Beal is just the tenth player in NBA history to have one.
A true no-trade clause is different than the right to veto, which a handful of players have each NBA season. The right to veto lasts one year, unlike Beals NTC, which applies to all five years of his new contract. If you want to know more about the true-no trade clause and what makes it different, Nick Metallinos of Sportingnews does a great job summing it up.
Beal joins rare company. All-time great company.
Beal becomes only the 10th player to have a no trade clause joining LeBron, KG, Melo, Dirk, Kobe, DWade, Duncan, David Robinson and John Stockton.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 6, 2022
The contract also has a 15% trade kicker and player option in year 5. https://t.co/NcUmDcyUMM
It’s obviously an incredible asset for a player to have. Avoiding the franchise having full control of where you will be playing at any given moment is a huge win for Beal and those close to him. The Wizards showed a lot of respect and loyalty by including this in a deal that already pays him like few players have been paid before.
The problem for the Wizards as an organization is how much control Beal now holds over the franchise. An important question within this whole situation is whether it was even necessary. Would Beal have left without the NTC, or would the Wizards have gotten him back regardless due to the compensation provided?
We may never know the true answer to that question. One thing we do know, though, is that Bradley Beal now has a lot of control over the Washington Wizards.
No Trade Clause Gives Bradley Beal Full Control
Both sides, as well as the entire Wizards fan base, wants to see this agreement work. Don’t get confused, that’s what Wizards fans would love to see. For most, it’s just too hard to see it playing out where they are truly competing in the next few years.
That’s more than fair. The team has a long road to contention. If they aren’t on that road at any point and Beal is frustrated by the team’s direction, he can request a trade.
Now let’s get this out of the way – The Wizards wouldn’t have to honor the request. Assuming they would see it’s best to get assets for him while they can if he is disgruntled, it seems reasonable the team could try to make a deal work. The loyalty and respect shown in this contract also point to them doing right by the player.
This is where things would become problematic. The team would have few options and none would be great. They could keep a disgruntled star and pay him a large portion of the cap, or shop him around for the best offer.
Well, the best offer from a team that he would like to be traded to. Automatically they start this scenario out with little leverage and would begin any negotiations knowing they aren’t getting the best offer from that team.
If Beal does want out at some point, it would be to win a ring. That means he wouldn’t give the thumbs up to a team that gave up too much for him and it hurt their franchise.
The Wizards are setting themselves up for a potentially bad situation. Either they suddenly build things around Beal correctly and take huge steps forward in small amounts of time, or they risk becoming hostages to Beal and his contract.