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Bradley Beal Might Be the Wizards' Most Important Player

Once considered a top contender in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Wizards are out of the playoff picture and face an uncertain future.
Photo by Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

This has been a season of unsettling dissonance for the Washington Wizards. Blessed with the brilliant all-around point guard John Wall and burgeoning guard Bradley Beal, a team once considered playoff-ready comes out of the All-Star break scuffling and five games under .500. A brutal schedule in the first half has them looking up at the No. 8 seed Hornets.

More importantly, their future appears murky, despite Wall evolving into one of the premier point guards in the league. "I think I'm having a career year," Wall said. "I can say I'm playing my best basketball but not the way I want to play because it's not equaling up to wins."

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It's not his fault. That much is clear. Wall has established himself as a franchise player, posting bests in points, steals, three-point shooting percentage, and PER, all while taking more confused broadsides from Colin Cowherd.

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The issue for Wall and the Wizards is that nothing else has gone right. Beal continues to develop into a capable sidekick, but can't stay healthy. Heck, this year no one outside of Wall and Marcin Gortat can stay healthy — the Wiz lead the NBA in games lost to injury by an avalanche of poor luck. Their newly installed modern NBA offense has only flirted with success.

"The big difference is we're not playing defense this season," Wall said. "And we've had a lot of injuries."

These are, of course, not issues any team would want, but they are not permanent disqualifications. Their schedule will finally ease up after Wall returns from the All-Star Game in Toronto. Presumably, the basketball gods will stop poking the Wizards voodoo doll and their injuries will diminish. The playoffs are still a possibility, though they are certainly not the likelihood everyone thought they would be.

Bradley Beal will help determine whether the Wizards have a successful offseason this year. — Photo by Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The macro-scale worries, however, are more substantial. Mostly, it revolves around Beal. He is unquestionably part of the foundation in Washington but also a large question mark. The fourth-year player is becoming the potent scorer he was predicted to be when the Wizards took him third overall in the 2012 Draft after one uneven season at Florida, averaging 18.7 points per game and putting up a career-best 16.9 PER this year. He's been more efficient while holding up a larger part of the offensive burden than ever before. If the Wizards hope to grow into a 55-win level team that can compete for the Finals annually, Beal is the best asset they have to accompany Wall. And with Otto Porter's development stagnant—the form he showed in the playoffs last spring appears to have been a mirage—Beal remains the lone long-term piece to pair with Wall.

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"We've seen his growth," coach Randy Wittman said. "I think he's taken another step this year. But it's hard. I think he got off to a great start then he had to sit for a long number of games and then get his feet back wet… It's hard to get back into that rhythm. Hopefully as we move forward that'll change and his health will stay where it is."

And that's the issue for Beal. He is talented and productive enough to earn a max contract this summer, but he's also a risk. For the fourth consecutive year he has been benched by a stress reaction in his right fibula. He has yet to play more than 73 games in a season and has already missed 21 games this year. The Wizards are obviously much better with Beal. Just witness what he did to the Knicks last week, when he scored 26 points to compliment Wall's sublime 28-point, 17-assist night, and helped to pull the Wizards out of their doldrums in the fourth quarter when they nearly blew a 13-point second half lead.

It was the type of one-two punch that has left Wall frustrated with how their season has turned out so far, a contrast to the alternate world where he and Beal would have played side by side for all 51 games to this point. "John and Brad took over," Jared Dudley said. "That's something we've needed. We've gone on our dry spells and haven't hit shots. That's why he's an All-Star and that's why those guys are max guys. They have to take over and hit those big shots at the end of the game."

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Or, as Wall succinctly puts it: "We're a different team. He makes me a better player when he's out there."

Can John Wall alone convince Kevin Durant to sign with the Wizards? — Photo by Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

This will be a crucial offseason for the Wizards, and Beal will be an important component. Their offseason hinges on whether they can make a successful bid for Kevin Durant. They have almost emptied out their salary cap to prepare for such a bid. They'll have just $42.8 million on their books when the season ends, leaving them with enough space and maneuverability to sign two max players like Beal and Durant. While Wall is dynamic and a stable building block, they'll probably need at least another max player in order to woo Durant.

Without that third player, presumably Beal, the Wizards won't likely be able to compete with the Thunder, who already have Russell Westbrook, or the Warriors, who are reportedly "serious frontrunners" for Durant if he decides to leave Oklahoma City. Wall alone isn't enough.

The Wizards continue to project confidence about Beal, despite the injury woes. "When he's playing, he's been good," Wittman said. "He's a big part of what we do."

But there is that caveat, again. Who knows if the stress reactions will be chronic or just growing pains. He is still just 22, after all. And this is the same team that was expected to be a possible Eastern Conference finalist back in October. Beal, with his quick release, feathery jump shot, and offensive profile, is a significant part of that projection.

And on nights like last Tuesday at the Garden, the Wizards appear able to reaffirm all those preseason projections. But sometimes the Washington Wizards are so enigmatic that they confound themselves.