After the Houston Rockets upset loss in round one, rising star Jalen Green found himself as the talking point for the many reasons that they fell short. Throughout the talk, the guard was compared to former Wizards star Bradley Beal, but not in a complimentary way.
The Washington Wizards aren't in the playoffs, but that hasn't kept them from being mentioned on more than one occasion since the postseason began.
At first, Washington was to blame for Kyle Kuzma's struggles for the Milwaukee Bucks due to his time playing "meaningless basketball" for the Wizards.
Then, the Wizards were mentioned again about their not-so-lucky, yet fortunate part in NBA history as they've now seen a former player be part of each of the last eight NBA Finals matchups.
This time around, the Wizards weren't exactly mentioned, but it's clear as to why this Jalen Green-Bradley Beal comparison is going around.
Jalen Green career arc compared to Bradley Beal's
Green, like Beal, was drafted as a top 3 pick in his respective draft class. The athletic playmaker entered the league with high expectations and the potential to be the next top guard in the league with the right development.
Through his four seasons with Houston, he's shown flashes of his ability to be exactly that. However, he's also shown flashes of his inconsistency and lack of ability to perform in big games.
In his first playoff series of his career, the lights looked like they may possibily be too bright for the star. After averaging 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2,8 assists, while shooting 37.2% from field goal range and 29.5% from three, the talk surrounding Green's career arc picked up.
Although Bradley Beal was a top player in the league during his time with the Wizards, he doesn't have much to show for it. The Florida product made the playoffs five times with Washington and once since he's been in Phoenix, and while he didn't perform as poorly as Green, he ended up with the same results.
Nonetheless, this tweet is more so about how Green's career trajectory is more on path of being paid like a top player, but never being able to reach the ultimate goal or play winning basketball for a top team.
Of course Green is in the early stages of his career, and Beal still has a few years left in him, but with a tweet like that implying that a Bradley Beal career arc is only good for "Jalen Green and his accountant" is not understating how good Beal once was, but also emphasizing the huge deal the Wizards gave him and the regret that the Suns now deal with for taking on that contract.
Only time will tell where Green's career goes from here, but having a career arc like Beal shouldn't be an insult and the Wizards shouldn't be looked at as foolish for the deal they gave him, considering it;s off their books and at the time, he proved he deserved it.