Bleacher Report unveiled their top 25 guards entering the 2022-23 NBA season. Their staff compiled a list and narrowed it down to the best of the best. Washington Wizards guard, Bradley Beal, found his way on the list, despite a poor showing for the games he played last season.
Nonetheless, Beal has been showed the respect that most stars/superstars deserve after only one injury-riddled season. ESPN ranked him in the top 20, ahead of some heavy hitters of the NBA.
Beal struggled last year in every statistical category; once you compare it to the previous two seasons of his. The Washington Wizards started off on fire last season, but quickly faded, which led to another losing record. In the midst of their collapse, Beal was injured and needed to undergo season-ending wrist surgery.
He was still offered the supermax extension, which he happily accepted. However, the pressure is now on, which was mentioned briefly in the Bleacher Report article. That didn’t stop them for ranking Bradley Beal as the 10th best guard in the league right now.
Bleacher Report’s Top 10 Guards in the NBA:
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 11, 2022
1. Luka Doncic
2. Stephen Curry
3. Ja Morant
4. Trae Young
5. Devin Booker
6. Damian Lillard
7. James Harden
8. Donovan Mitchell
9. Kyrie Irving
10. Bradley Beal
He is just ahead of Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls, respectively. Edwards is a young superstar in the making with all the tools to fully breakout this season. LaVine is an All-Star that can score at will and took the Bulls to playoffs last season, alongside DeMar DeRozan.
Bleacher Report has the confidence that Beal’s season last year was a fluke to some degree. He might not average 30 plus points per game this year, but the numbers should increase from a season ago.
Kyrie Irving being ahead of Beal is an interesting case. Irving has missed a lot of games over the course of his career. However, last season wasn’t due to injury, but more on his stance on the vaccine.
Irving has been in-and-out of the lineup for going on two years now due to non-basketball related issues, while reiterating that his stance has not changed. It is hard to place a player in the top 10 that can easily stop playing at any given moment, despite the talent being so high.
Hopefully by the end of the season Bradley Beal proves why he is worthy of a top 10 spot, and perhaps a bump in the rankings for next season.