This weekend’s trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, was a business trip for Bradley Beal.
The Washington Wizards shooting guard earned his second consecutive trip to the NBA All-Star Game, but in addition to scoring 11 points in 18 minutes with three 3-pointers, Beal also talked to his fellow All-Stars about the upside of playing in Washington.
Bradley Beal said he couldn’t name names, but he was actively recruiting at the All-Star game for players to join him in D.C. with the Wizards. Some guys even came up to him and asked. If you have theories, let’s hear them…
— Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) February 18, 2019
“The recruiting process is really going all right. It’s going all right. I’m trying,” Beal told NBC Sports Washington. “This is new for me. I’m definitely getting some ears and seeing what guys are looking for.”
The Wizards entered the All-Star break at 24-34, three games back of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Washington’s core roster, salary cap situation and weather doesn’t exactly make it a hot free-agent destination, either.
Beal is the star powering the team right now as John Wall won’t play basketball for 12 months or more as he rehabs a ruptured Achilles tendon. The next biggest name on the roster sheet is Dwight Howard, who hasn’t played since Nov. 18 due to gluteal surgery — and who some star players in the past haven’t enjoyed teaming up with.
Some All-Stars hitting the open market after this season include Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson and Khris Middleton. A former Wizards target in free agency, Durant, a native of Prince George’s County, Maryland, has said he “didn’t want to play at home.”
During the celebrity game Friday night, Beal and Middleton were jointly interviewed by ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth during the broadcast. Middleton’s impending free agency wasn’t a topic, but perhaps that’s where Beal got his ear and made a sales pitch.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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