The Bradley Beal era is rightly not going to be remembered fondly by the Phoenix Suns and their fans. That's if you can even call it an era at all, what with Beal being the third option in The Valley alongside Devin Booker and Kevin Durant during his time there. Now with the L.A. Clippers, his chances of finding success there haven't exactly increased.
If you cast your mind back to what it took to get Beal as well - essentially moving off Chris Paul while also nabbing Jordan Goodwin in the trade - it made sense at the time too. We all know how that turned out though, with the ultimate insult coming in the form of Goodwin returning ahead of this season for his second stint with the franchise. They didn't even know what they had with him.
Desmond Bane is the player Suns should have targeted.
The Game Theory Podcast with Sam Vecenie and Bryce Simon was back with a re-draft of the 2020 class recently, and Desmond Bane's name rightly came up. You may have forgotten, but the former 30th pick who eventually landed with the Memphis Grizzlies did so thanks to a pick that at one point ran through Phoenix.
While the pair rightly gushed about Bane, Vecenie put forward the idea that he is perhaps the best third option in the entire league. You only need to look at his makeup as a player to understand why that is, while also then looking at Beal's game and realizing that the Suns were onto a loser in trying to get the former Washington Wizard to be the same thing.
Now with the Orlando Magic, Bane is an amazing third offensive option behind Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. He's also the best defender of the three, and is an elite 3-point shooter to boot. He knows his place in the pecking order - yet on the nights when Wagner does not have it, and they will happen - Bane can step into that role too.
Beal was only ever a minus defender for the Suns, and that was if he managed to play at all. The cost to acquire him from Memphis was steep for the Magic - three first rounders and a first round swap in there - and that is the kind of draft capital the Suns didn't have when they got the Beal deal done.
But perhaps all hope would not have been lost, given Ja Morant's off the court issues? The idea of having a Hall of Fame point guard in Paul for a season might have appealed to them, they failed to fill that gap with Derrick Rose and Marcus Smart, while Tyus Jones ended up in Phoenix himself.
There would have had to have been more added of course, but how good would Bane have been with the Suns? This roster's answer to Mikal Bridges, and he would have been the perfect foil next to Booker and Durant. Given he's only 27-years-old now, the price for his services likely wouldn't have been as high either. A long shot, but a fun what if nonetheless.