And it’s time to see if the Wizards can make another game more competitive than it probably will end up being.
The Washington Wizards host the Phoenix Suns tomorrow afternoon. Here is the preview.
Game info
When: Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024 at 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
How to watch: Monumental Sports Network
Injury report: For the Wizards, Isaiah Livers is out due to a hip injury while Marvin Bailey (back) and Tyus Jones (ankle) are day-to-day.
For the Suns, Damion Lee is out due to a knee injury.
What to watch for
It’s obvious what the big storyline is. The former franchise player himself, is coming back home. Bradley Beal will be back in D.C. for the first time since wearing a Wizards uniform last season. Beal, who is averaging 17.1 points and 4.6 assists per game this season for Phoenix, will be out there to put a big performance out there for Washington fans, many, if not most of whom started to feel animosity toward him because of his supermax contract.
For me personally, I have no ill will or animosity toward Beal and his contract.
At the end of the day, it’s up to a team’s front office to determine whether someone should get a supermax or not. Tommy Sheppard, the Wizards’ General Manager at the time, believed that Beal deserved it. Beal signed the deal, and he should. Any one of us would.
From hindsight, Beal didn’t turn into a Top 10 NBA player, the kind of player that more-or-less deserves such an award. But he has remained an above average player throughout this whole time. That’s why Washington was ultimately able to trade Beal to the Suns for a future deal involving Jordan Poole.
I know, Poole is playing poorly this season. But at this time a year ago, many of you thought that Beal was untradable because no other teams would want him.
Hopefully, the fans will welcome him back with open arms when the lineups are called. And we shall see if the Wizards can defy the odds and steal a win against the Suns.
(Yeah, I get that Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are on this team, but … we all know this is about Beal at the end of the day, right?)