Mar 5, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) holds his back against the Indiana Pacers during the second half at Verizon Center. The Indiana Pacers won 100 - 99. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Washington Wizards Gamble On Bradley Beal‘s Future

On Saturday night, Bradley Beal took a spill, spraining his pelvis. The 22-year-old shooting guard, who’s dealt with injuries in each of his four seasons with the Washington Wizards, was helped to the locker room by a couple of teammates and didn’t return to the game.

This has been a common occurrence in Beal’s career.

Whenever he’s worked his way back into Randy Wittman‘s rotation, he’s repeatedly gotten hurt, which has caused even greater setbacks. After coming off the bench for weeks, Beal finally returned to the team’s starting lineup on Saturday, but got hurt in the third quarter.

Beal is still one of the best young guards in the NBA. Despite dealing with injuries all throughout his career, he’s managed to put up impressive numbers and show flashes of why he’ll inevitably get a max contract this summer. The terrifying thing is, we’ve seen this movie before and it there isn’t a storybook ending.

Eric Gordon, who’s currently with the New Orleans Pelicans, was regarded as the best young shooting guard in the NBA during his time with the Los Angeles Clippers. In fact, he was the main piece in the trade that netted the Clippers Chris Paul, who was the best point guard in the NBA at the time. Gordon was that good.

Now, Gordon is considered one of the most overpaid players in the league.

Like Beal, Gordon was unable to avoid the injury bug and it eventually took its toll. The inconsistency made him one of the most frustrating players in the league. Whenever it seemed like he would finally turn the corner, Gordon suffered an unfortunate injury. Sadly, it looks like the Washington Wizards are headed down that same road with Beal.

Beal is set to become a restricted free agent this summer.

Although the Washington Wizards still have their eyes set on Kevin Durant, they will likely keep Beal as well. Since he’s going to be a restricted free agent, Washington will have the right to match any contract sheet he signs.

In an interview with NBC Sports, CSN insider J.Michael reported that Washington plans on keeping Beal under a long-term deal.

"The sense is that the Wizards will match any offers that come up for Bradley Beal" @JMichaelCSN — SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) March 5, 2016

Washington has invested a lot in Beal and they feel obligated to keep him. They did numerous things wrong.

First off, they shouldn’t have allowed Randy Wittman to play him over 30 minutes after the multiple stress reactions had occurred. It’s insanity, really.

If Beal cannot play major minutes, then why force him into a situation where another stress reaction becomes inevitable? Beal is currently on a minutes restriction that will last his entire career. That’s a serious problem, especially since he’ll make more money than John Wall, who’s yet to miss a game this season.

Furthermore, the Wizards did not even consider trading Beal when his value was high.

Washington rejected a trade for James Harden involving Beal when the Houston Rocket was in Oklahoma City. The combination of Wall and Beal was thought of as the best back court in the Eastern Conference, so Washington’s brass did not want to break up the duo.

And now the Washington Wizards are stuck without many options. The time to trade Beal for equal or more value in return has passed. They can either let him walk in free agency or re-sign him with hope he can remain healthy. The latter will happen.