ESPN’s Shams Charania announced on Wednesday that Bradley Beal is undergoing season-ending hip surgery. The Suns made a major move to waive Beal in the offseason, and this latest injury news justifies their decision even more. Beal has been injury prone for the last 5 seasons and it was a major factor that hurt the Suns during Beal’s time in Phoenix.
Bradley Beal can’t stay healthy.
Beal hasn’t played more than 53 games since 2021, when he was an All-Star on the Wizards. He did reach that 53-game mark during both of his Suns seasons, but it wasn’t enough to make up for his enormous contract. Beal was making $50 million per season while playing just over half the team’s games and looking lackluster whenever he did play.
The Suns made an expensive decision when they stretched and waived Beal - they’ll be paying him $19 million for each of the next five seasons. But it freed up cap space and opportunity for other Suns to emerge in the meantime. And their consistent health will give the Suns more stability than they would have with Beal.
While the Suns have had their weaknesses this season, they’ve surprisingly fared better than the Clippers. After a very ambitious offseason, the Clippers find themselves near the bottom of the West with an aging roster. Beal is well past his prime now at age 32 with an extensive injury history, but he’s a spry chicken on the Clips.
The Clippers have invested heavily in an old team, led by 36-year-old James Harden and 34-year-old Kawhi Leonard. Leonard, of course, is infamous for his own injury history. The age and health of these two has hurt the Clippers in the past, so it was somewhat surprising that they chose to entrust Beal with their starting shooting guard role.
But the Clippers can’t resist the urge to go after big names. Hopefully the Suns have learned that lesson after the last two seasons. Their decision to part with both Beal and Durant this offseason is already looking like the right call. It’s allowed the team to reset around a younger core and let Devin Booker shine at his brightest.
Booker could definitely use some more top-end talent next to him, but Beal and Durant could not provide that reliably because of their inavailability. In an era with talent all around the league, it’s important for teams to roll out their best every single game. With that said, the Suns are not missing the injury-riddled days of the last two seasons at all right now.