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Bradley Beal must embrace change to keep Wizards afloat
The Wizards' 2-guard will need to step up to keep the team afloat with John Wall out for a couple of weeks. Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Bradley Beal must embrace change to keep Wizards afloat

The players who capture the essence of any particular era are those who find comfort in, instead of shying away from, the variability that naturally comes with the game. The NBA is defined by a sense of indeterminate flux. There is change from era to era, year to year, game to game, minute to minute. What we knew to be true yesterday could be false tomorrow, realities are fickle — and injuries shift what was once unvarnished. John Wall will not suit up for two weeks for an already struggling Wizards team and it’s up to Bradley Beal to help Washington navigate this variation in the team’s junket to June.

For Washington, the question surrounding Beal isn’t whether he’s up to taking on the role of de facto leader in Wall’s absence, but whether the rate at which he’s able to change his role is fast enough to keep the team relevant. No matter how good Beal becomes, there is no doubt that Washington needs Wall, but if Beal is able to become more complete in the coming weeks, Wall’s integration back into the rotation becomes more seamless and makes the game easier on both of them.

There are two ways to improve on the offensive end of the floor. One is to become less predictable, the other is to vastly improve on the actions defenses already know you’re going to do. This year, Beal is accomplishing the former, last year it was the latter, and because of this, there are whispers among those who watch the game closely that Beal is on the verge of surpassing Wall on the team’s pecking order in terms of sheer talent. Beal told The Washington Post that he wants “to be considered as a playmaker, a guy who can put the ball on the floor and create shots for himself as well as for his teammates.” This year, we’re starting to see him make those strides.

The biggest improvement that we’ve seen from Beal this season is his ability to finish at the rim. He’s shooting a career-best 68 percent right at the rim, and that improvement is only going to open up better shots on the perimeter as the season progresses. The improvement at the rim is a direct result of his improvement as the ball handler in P&R sets, and the improved design of those sets from head coach Scott Brooks. Beal was essentially running the same P&R sets that were designed for John Wall. No movement before touches, which forced Beal to a) make too many decisions coming off the screen and b) dribble his way through traffic.

Now, Beal is coming off screens designed to free shooters before even touching the ball. The same way the 76ers run J.J. Redick off screens to free him for open looks beyond the arc is the same way the Wizards are opening the floor to create space for Beal before he initiates the P&R. Once Beal catches the ball coming off a baseline screen, he has three options:

1. Catch and shoot, how he’s made a living until mid-last season
2. Use a screen set by a big going the opposite direction to pull up for the jumper
3. Use that same screen, which is leading to more open lanes to the rim

This new design is has helped Beal’s efficiency grow in each of the last three seasons in P&R sets alone. He’s scoring more points per possession, he’s shooting better from the field, he’s drawing more fouls, turning the ball over less and scoring 48 percent of the time he handles the ball in P&R sets.

While Beal continues to extend the boundaries of his on-court identity, he must not forget that the playmaking means nothing if his three-point regression becomes more of a trend than a slump. For all of the great 3-point shooters in the NBA, Beal is the youngest ever to knock down 700 in his career. Considering how every team in the league places a premium on the 3-Ball, Beal is going to have to continue to be a knockdown shooter. Not just for the time that Wall is out, but for the sake of Washington’s title dreams. Beal is shooting a career-low 37 percent from three this season, but is shooting back up to 40 percent over his last six games.

Washington plays six of their next seven on the road, but four of those games should be winnable, even without Wall. While a signature win in either Philadelphia or Portland would help propel Beal into the next caste of NBA players, Beal’s truest test of finding comfort in variability will come with winning the games they’re supposed to win. Washington has struggled all year down the stretch of games, with or without their All-Star point guard. Beal cannot just survive the change in personnel and the change in his role, he must embrace it or Washington is going to be in an uphill battle with itself for the rest of the season.

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