Washington Wizards, 2015-2016 Player Previews

Bradley Beal, 2014-15 regular season stats: 15.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, 41% 3P%, 43% FG%, 33.4 minutes, 63 games

When people around the league talk about Bradley Beal, they usually will mention “If he can only stay healthy…look out” and with good reason.

During Beal’s first three years with the Washington Wizards, he has missed games for a variety of injuries. During a game in the preseason last year versus the Charlotte Hornets, Beal got hurt in a freak collision and fractured his wrist. The injury cost Beal a few games to start the season.

Beal slowly eased himself back into the lineup with positive results, but watching Beal throughout the season, you could tell he was a little hesitant about getting hurt again…which he did.

After an old stress reaction in his shin popped back up, he had to miss a few more games toward the end of the regular season. Beal once again had to ease back into action but this time since the playoffs were around the corner, there was a sense of urgency for him and the team.

As the team limped into the 2015 playoffs, many expected the Washington Wizards to go quietly in the first round to the superior team (sound familiar?), but similar to 2014 playoffs, Bradley Beal showed the basketball world that once he dials in completely, he is firmly in the conversation as one of the best shooting guards in the league.

His intensity, shooting and mean streak were all on display as the Washington Wizards ended up crushing the favored Toronto Raptors in a four game sweep:

Watching Beal play last year was bittersweet for many Wizards fans.

On the one hand, his fluid, gorgeous jump shot and sneaky athleticism has basketball experts saying he reminds them of a young Ray Allen, who just happens to be the NBA record holder for most three pointers made.

And then, you have the other part of Beal’s game.

Beal tends to shoot and fall in love with what many call in the NBA “a wasted shot” — the long two pointer. It’s something that Beal worked on hard this summer to try and eliminate from his game.

Part of it was Coach Randy Wittman’s old school offense and another part was Beal taking what the opposing defender usually gave him. Along with him trying to snap out of his love for long twos, Beal also worked hard this summer on his ball handling and going to the rim to try and cause contact so that he can get the free throw line. Beal had one of the worse free throw usage rates among shooting guards in the NBA.

As evidenced by Tuesday’s preseason opener, the Washington Wizards are going to be a run-and-gun, small-ball team. One of the main benefactors is definitely Beal.

The small-ball offense will give him a chance to pull up and try (and make) more threes than he has ever made in his career. Beal has also talked openly about another big goal he has this upcoming season:

Headline from today's @WashWizards camp. Bradley Beal says he wants to be first team all defense. #WizardsTalk — Chris Miller (@cmillscsn) October 5, 2015

One of the biggest things people tend to overlook with this young Wizards backcourt is how well they defend other backcourts in the league.

Beal defended Toronto’s All-Star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan very well and was one of the main reasons the Raptor offense never took off. Beal then followed that up with excellent defense on one of the NBA’s most dangerous three point marksman, Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Kyle Korver.

Beal doesn’t strike you as a lockdown defender at first glance, but once you watch a few Wizards games and pay attention to the box scores, you start to see how hard Beal works on the defensive end.

With all of Beal’s early success in the league during the regular season and especially the playoffs, it feels like Beal has been around long than he actually has.

Going into his fourth year, Beal is only 22-years-old with rookie Kelly Oubre being the only member of the Washington Wizards that is younger. With a young core that includes John Wall, Otto Porter, Oubre and Beal, the Wizards are set up for the future in the Eastern Conference.

Big Panda. Beal With It. Dolla Dolla Beal, and blu3magic are a few of the nicknames Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal is known by. If Beal takes the superstar leap many expect him to take this year, you can add another name….All-Star.