A trade demand would have been “kind of the easy way out,” according to Wizards guard Bradley Beal.
Beal, 26, inked a two-year, $72 million max extension in the offseason, and is determined to grind it out in Washington, no matter how frustrating that may be.
“I’m the franchise here,” says Beal.
Per NBC Sports, via Yahoo Sports:
“I respect the fact that they drafted me, that’s first and foremost,” Beal told [Chris] Haynes. “Just being in one spot for your whole career, having your jersey in the rafter one day, being that important to an organization, those were all things that drew me.”
He consulted Portland Trailblazers’ star guard Damian Lillard, who decided to stay with his original team with a supermax contract extension in June, and Ray Allen, who was loyal to the Milwaukee Bucks early in his career.
“Honestly, I thought that was kind of the easy way out,” Beal said (of his decision not to request a trade.)
“It’ll feel more meaningful and powerful knowing that I grinded it out doing it in D.C. It’s pretty much my team, I’m the franchise here, so it was kind of destined for me to kind of mold it from here.”
Related Report: Bradley Beal ‘Angry With and Emotional About’ the Wizards
