When word began circulating last week that the under-new-management Washington Wizards might actually be ready to move longtime standard-bearer Bradley Beal, most of the immediate reaction focused on finances. You can understand why: The three-time All-Star guard owns the second-richest contract in the NBA, behind only newly minted champion Nikola Jokiu0107, and one of only seven deals with an average annual value north of $50 million per year.
That gargantuan pact figured to make finding a new home for Beal exceptionally tricky, especially under a new collective bargaining agreement set to impose increasingly severe penalties on teams that run payrolls significantly above the luxury tax line.