While it’s still too early for the Phoenix Suns to have any regrets about the Bradley Beal trade, things have certainly not gone as planned in his first season with the franchise. According to NBA insider David Aldridge, the Wizards felt a sense of relief letting Beal go and his ridiculous contract is the Suns’ problem to deal with.
“Somebody said, ‘We think you’re a max player in this league,’ and that’s on them,” said Aldridge on the Right Time podcast. “Washington will never cop to this, but they were very relieved when that [Phoenix] deal got done. Not because Bradley is a bad dude, he’s a great dude, he’s just overpaid as a basketball player.”
Max contracts are usually reserved for the best of the best players and while Beal is a great player, he’s not someone who can lead a team to a title. Of course, Beal is also notorious for having a no-trade clause on his contract, which he chose to carry over to Phoenix after his trade from the Wizards. A no-trade clause is extremely rare in the NBA and we usually don’t see even the top-level stars bother to get one. In the case of Beal, he somehow convinced the Wizards to include one on his latest deal and it remains active to this day.
When it became clear that the Wizards were never going to win with Beal, they tried and failed to find a deal for him for years before the Suns eventually agreed to a trade. Now, Phoenix is stuck with the 3x All-Star until his contract expires in 2027. With averages of 18.2 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game on 51.3% shooting this season, Beal has yet to live up to his price and the Suns will not get far unless he has a breakout moment.
The Phoenix Suns Made A Huge Mistake
In 2021, the Phoenix Suns were two wins away from the NBA championship but they got beaten four straight times by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, who won the series in six. That run was before Beal and Durant when the Suns had just Booker, Chris Paul, and a deep cast of role-players like Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton.
After falling short that year, the Suns have yet to make a return trip to the Finals and they haven’t even really come close. Last year, while they were able to advance past the first round, they were no match against the Nuggets and got outplayed from the start.
Now, even with the “big three,” the Suns don’t look any better and they are on the verge of a 3-0 deficit against the young and inexperienced Minnesota Timberwolves. Without a doubt, this season has been a major disappointment from start to finish for Phoenix and after trading away all of their best supporting players and draft assets, they have nothing left to try and fix the situation.
With no other option but to keep going and hope for the best, the Suns are not going to show any doubts about their future but it’s hard to ignore all of the concerns when you consider the age of Durant and the lack of tradeable pieces that the Suns have to work with this summer.
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