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Top Stories of the Week: Beal still wants a max, Wiz might seek God, Mystics get back on track

By Elle Ward

So I will kick off this weeks round-up of stories by mentioning this Instagram post of Bradley Beal attacking the weekend like we all should: like a samurai.

@bradbeal3 learned Samurai move in Asakusa, Tokyo. #ビール来日 #bradleybeal #nba #wizards

A video posted by Takuma Oikawa (@oitaku) on

This seems like a perfect segue into him carving the life out of the Wizards next season with his max deal.

The soon-to-be 23 year old thinks he is worth a max contract next year, but may not be worth it according to Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post. Oher moderately successful ballers are skeptical of his max status as well, but they may be forgetting some important info.

Jake has some thoughts on the likelihood of Beal getting the big bucks, and he and Michael Sykes discuss it in this week's podcast among other things. Spoiler: Big Lots gets a shout out and there is some gratuitous giggling at the end.

Wiz still in good shape with Brooks, but could use some divine intervention

L.W. puts forth a compelling argument that Donovan's success this year with the Thunder isn't a referendum on Scott Brooks tenure with OKC. Definitely check out the comments.

When it comes to the Wizard's player development, who doesn't want God (Shammgod) on their side? Jake has the hot take on the Wizards inside track to the promised land. #StuffWritesItself

The Mystics lost their first three games, but have regrouped and won the last two on the road.

Saturday's first away game, at the Connecticut Sun, went a lot better than the previous three. The Mystics won in overtime, and it wasn't pretty.

Albert served up his team assessments, and I totally agree about Hill and Copper. But there is no way, shape or form that this isn't Meesseman's team. Nice of Hill and Hartley showing up in year 3 and 4 of their careers respectively, but Meesseman has held it down since she was drafted in the second round in 2013. And she was the first, second and third option for UMMC, Diana Taurasi LOVED her. All-Star defense being a big part of it:

On Thursday, the Mystics faced the Seattle Storm, and with 5 days between games, Ivory Latta returned and the Mystics were prepared for the Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd onslaught. Here is the preview of the Seattle game and the recap of the win, and the recap of Meesseman's overseas campaign. Best part, we don't have to get to know Ordinary Love.

Additional Links and Stories

Dan Steinberg from the WaPo reports that Three Top Officials are leaving Monumental Network in a "leadership restructuring" effort by Monumental Sports to decentralize their marketing and communications departments.

Evidently, former Wizard Etan Thomas had a verbal altercation over a seat on a packed train, which he felt was race related.

Contract talk was not limited to just pundits: Jared Dudley got some exciting news via Twitter:

That is this week's recap of another eventful week. These are not the only interesting links regarding the Wizards and Mystics, by any means. If you have another that you would like to share, feel free to do so in the comments or in a FanPost!