One of the most slutty clichés in basketball language that we all use these days is “he / she is a bucket.” In English, this means that that person can score at will, against any defense, anywhere on the floor.
But in the NBA, where defense is not, charitably, at the top of the priority list, top scorers have never been more important.
Now is a great time to be Bradley Beal.
The Wizards guard is in his prime. To trot another gray cliché, he is a “three-level” scorer, equally unguarded on 3-pointers, midrange shots and on the edge. Years of off-season work on his ballhandling and in the weight room has now allowed him to do so much more than make way for 3s, as he did earlier in his career when he played against John Wall.
He is a three-time All-Star, who will be in the base for the first time on Sunday-evening in Atlanta, on Team Durant.