Washington Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal has agreed to a two-year $72m (£56m) contract extension, his agent confirmed on Thursday.
The agreement which guarantees Beal nearly $130m over the next four years ends speculation over his future, with the 27-year-old long having been linked with a trade as his previous deal entered its final two years.
The extension will begin with the 2021-22 season and includes a player option for the second year of the deal, which will give Beal the opportunity to opt out and sign a five-year contract worth $266m, which would be the biggest deal in NBA history.
Beal, the third overall pick in 2012, was considered one of the key assets potentially available on the trade market this year given his excellent catch and shoot ability and the fact he is coming off a career season stats-wise with averages of 25.6 points, 5.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game
Despite the Wizards going 32-50 last year and fellow star guard John Wall's injury problems, after he tore his Achilles in February, the Wizards' two main powerbrokers have convinced Beal to remain in the US capital. But his agent revealed that is what the shooting guard was hoping for all along.
"Brad has always made it clear to me, that in a perfect world, he would never leave Washington," agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"This was probably going to be the most important decision that Brad was going to make in his career, and we wanted to give Ted (Leonsis - the Wizards owner) and Tommy (Sheppard - the team's new General Manager) every opportunity to present their vision for the franchise. And they've genuinely done a wonderful job of getting Brad excited about the future and how they plan to build the Wizards team around him.
"He has felt an obligation to be the focal point in turning the Wizards into an elite team. He's thrilled about all the resources that Ted is pouring into the franchise and thrilled how committed they are to building something special."
Beal's deal includes a 15 percent trade bonus on the extension years and 50 per cent advance payment of the $34.5m and $37.3m (if he opts into the 2022-23 years) annual salaries.
Beal also cannot now be traded until the forthcoming season is over.