Clippers are making a Bradley Beal realization Suns fans have known for years

The Phoenix Suns may have started the new season losing games, but they're still in a better spot than when they ended the 2024-25 campaign. Back then there were championship aspirations, yet a roster headlined by Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker couldn't make the play-in. At least this version of the roster - headed up by Booker - is just trying to play hard each night.

That they've also failed to do that so far is a concern, but there is still plenty of time to get it right. Guys like Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams might have their faults, but one thing they are going to give you when they're out there is effort. The same could not always be said by Beal in particular, and there's a reason the Suns bought him out this offseason.

Beal is already missing games for Clippers through injury.

Another unfortunate hallmark of the Beal era in The Valley, were the consistent little injuries that caused him to miss games. Going back to his first season there, and he was limited to only 53 games played and watched as Grayson Allen took his spot on the team en route to being their third best player.

Last season was supposed to be different, but if anything it was worse. Beal again limited to 53 games, only this time 15 of those came off the bench. The Clippers have only played four times so far - going 2-2 in the process including a victory over the Suns that Beal did appear in - but he's only been available twice.

The sample size is tiny, yet you get the sense Beal will only be around for about half of their games throughout the season, just like he was in Phoenix. With the Clippers also having 40-year-old Chris Paul and the ageing James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, history is repeating itself with Beal in Los Angeles.

Much like the Suns rosters he was a part of, the Clippers don't have the depth to deal with one of their better players missing time through injury. Beal is on a two-year, $11 million deal so his absence is a lot easier to swallow, but the Clippers also need him out there creating some offense and being an over-qualified third or fourth option for that group.

Which is exactly what the Suns also wanted him to be, yet it never happened. The Clippers surely should have known this was a possibility, yet they are now having to watch as Beal is already missing time because of a back issue. Times may be tough for the Suns right now, but at least they have moved on from having Beal on the roster, even if it did require the painful move of buying him out.