The Phoenix Suns' slim hopes of making the play-in tournament took yet another blow on Tuesday night, as the Golden State Warriors came to town and steamrolled their way to a 133-95 victory. The loss a painful reminder that - had it not been for Kevin Durant deciding he didn't want to go back to San Francisco - Jimmy Butler could be in The Valley right now.
Instead he has given the Warriors a massive boost - and although Devin Booker once again led the way with his scoring and tried to do all he could to will this group to a win - it was Butler, Stephen Curry and company who got the last laugh. They now sit sixth in the Western Conference, and have the opportunity to skip the play-in entirely if they keep winning games.
Bradley Beal's time in Phoenix hit a new low in the defeat.
It has been easy for fans to make a scapegoat out of Beal this season, because he sums up all that is wrong with the organization right now. His combination of having a no-trade clause and making $50 million alone this season meaning that on a lot of nights, it doesn't look like the result of the game bothers him all that much.
That doesn't paint the whole picture however, and earlier this season Beal willingly came off the bench, and still provided the Suns with some scoring punch when called upon. His interest has waned since the turn of the year though, and his fit as the third option in Phoenix has never worked. Beal did himself no favors with the fanbase, by reacting in this way to a no-look 3-pointer by Curry.
Beal's reaction to this Steph look-away 3 😅 pic.twitter.com/o1Z5rEkeRO
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 9, 2025
Is basketball meant to be fun? Sure. Is it also a life-or-death situation each and every night? Absolutely not, it is a game and one that professional athletes are rightly paid very well to play. But in the context of this Suns' season and how bad it has gotten - with a lack of effort and caring perceived to be one of the biggest issues from the outside looking in - this is not a good look for Beal.
When you're giving up 117.8 points per game on average - the fourth worst mark in the league - the last thing you want to be seen to be doing is laughing and joking around when Curry makes a shot that could look disrespectful if he wasn't so damn likeable. This also wouldn't be a problem if the team was competitve, or if they were in the thick of the playoff race. Game respects game, and that's ok.
But we've already seen enough messing around from this team in the wrong situations - laughing on the bench after being blown out by the Indiana Pacers one such example from earlier in the campaign - to know that this doesn't look good. Fans have paid hard-earned money to watch the Suns play, and the last thing they need is a guy who isn't living up to his monstrous salary to look like he doesn't care.
He’s still projected to go late in the first round so I think the #Suns would be mad not to try and draft Walter Clayton Jr., a point guard and win now player who has one thing the team really lacks, he looks like he actually cares (✍🏻 @ValleyoftheSuns)https://t.co/RP7HUPqise
— Luke Duffy (@LucaLockheart) April 8, 2025
It would be one thing for Booker or Durant to do this in a game, but it just hurts more when it is Beal. Not that Booker would do that anyway, since Durant went down he's looked much more like the old, assertive offensive star who led this organization all the way to the NBA Finals. But the Suns gave up so much to get Beal, and for him to look like he's not taking this seriously is a terrible sign.
He's most likely not going anywhere this summer either - as even though the Washington Wizards looked like they'd take him back at the deadline - it was Beal who vetoed any chance of that going down. When you're getting paid incredibly well and look like you're having a great time out there, why would you want to be anywhere else?