Bradley Beal Became A Better Scorer Without John Wall On The Floor

Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal had, in some respects, the best season of his career in 2018-19. In the 2019-20 season, he proved that he could be even better. 

Two seasons ago, Beal was one of six players in the league to average at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists for the entire season. He finished with figures of 25.6 points, 5.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds. 

By the time the 2019-20 season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Beal was sitting on averages of 30.5 points, 6.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds. 

Beal’s biggest jump, obviously, is in the scoring department, and there are a number of statistics available to us nowadays to determine how he’s manufactured that kind of an offensive leap. 

For one, Beal is simply touching the ball more this season. 

Last year, he averaged 74.4 touches in 36.9 minutes per game. This season, he’s averaged 79.0 touches in 36.0 minutes. 

He’s playing marginally fewer minutes but touching the ball more, and he’s doing more with those touches: 0.386 points per touch this season is up from 0.344 last year. Because of injuries, Beal was limited to 57 games this year before the season stopped, and of players who played in 57 or more games, Beal’s points per touch ranks 14th in the league. 

Certainly part of the reason Beal is touching the ball more is John Wall’s absence due to an Achilles injury. It’s also worth noting that Wall only played in 32 games last season before getting injured. 

Beal, traditionally a shooting guard, took on more of the ball-handling duties this year, and averaged the eighth-most touches per game among players with 57 or more games played. The Wizards employed more typical point guards Isaiah Thomas, Ish Smith and Shabazz Napier at different times this season, but none of them handled the ball as much as Beal. With Wall out, Beal became the de facto point guard and started leading the offense. 

Despite having the ball more often, Beal’s total time with the ball isn’t among the highest in the league. He’s averaged 3.43 seconds per touch, which is a far cry from Trae Young’s 6.27 seconds. 

Because Beal did have the ball more, he drove to the basket more and he was more successful while doing so. This year, he averaged 11.5 points on drives into the lane, up from 8.0 last season. 

This season, Beal is also tied for ninth in the league with 9.3 points coming off of pick and roll plays where he is the ball handler. He averaged 5.8 points from such plays last season.

By the time the season stopped, Beal was also among the league leaders in points from pull-up shots (8.5), distance run during games (2.69 miles), points scored in transition (5.9) and points scored from handoffs (3.0). All of these figures represent increases from last season except the distance run during games, which was a league-leading 2.75 miles in 2018-19.

All told, Beal is running marginally less but possessing the ball more and doing more with it than during his career year last season. 

Despite being named an All-Star and averaging 25-5-5 last year, Beal was left off of the All-NBA teams at the end of the season. His defense and the Wizards’ poor record likely had a lot to do with that, even though meeting those statistical averages is usually a guaranteed ticket to being named All-NBA. 

Beal was left off the All-Star roster this year as well, also likely because of his defense and the Wizards’ poor record. Despite increasing his scoring and assist numbers, there are still too many guards who played well for winning teams that will make up the eventual All-NBA teams. 

He may miss out on the individual accolades, but he’s proven during Wall’s absence that he is capable of being the first option—not only as a scorer, but as a ball handler. He was pressed into the latter role out of necessity, and he delivered in a big way. 

Once Wall returns, there may be less pressure on him to entirely lead the offense given Beal’s ability to do so.

If Beal is able to maintain his strong production once Wall is healthy and back in the lineup, the Wizards should expect to win more often and get back into the playoffs. In that case, Beal could be in line for more individual recognition. 

The Wizards have already shown Beal how much he means to them courtesy of the two-year, $72 million extension he signed in October 2019. But Beal could take a larger jump into the nation’s eye if he were in the discussion for player awards more often. 

When that time comes, the common NBA fan will be more privy to what Washington fans have known for a long while: Beal is no second banana. He is a certified leading man.

All statistics via nba.com/stats.