Huge update on Bradley Beal's future comes immediately after Kevin Durant trade

The Phoenix Suns officially ended the Kevin Durant era in The Valley Sunday - one week on from Desmond Bane getting the offseason underway with a bang - as they sent him packing to the Houston Rockets for a return which resulted in a scathing grade from us. The 36-year-old might finally be gone, but the questions are only just beginning.

How will new head coach Jordan Ott create an offensive scheme around Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and new addition Jalen Green? Three players who like to have the ball in their hands to create, in what is an unwanted throwback to the "three-headed point guard monster" the organization attempted a decade ago.

Suns not actively trying to ditch Beal any way that they can.

Kevin O'Connor jumped on his podcast immediately after the Durant deal went down, and he wisely brought John Gambadoro along for the ride. You can find Gambadoro on the Arizona Sports network - and although some think that he perhaps isn't as connected to the Suns as he claims - there's no doubt he both has sources and gets some news around the franchise correct.

Throughout the course of the conversation - and with Durant now in the rear-view mirror - Gambadoro was adamant that the Suns are either going to trade or buy-out Beal this offseason. The first problem there is that Beal holds a no-trade clause, and all that we have ever heard out of his camp is that he and his family are happy in Phoenix.

But could Durant leaving change all of that? Hard as it is to believe - and despite winning only 36 games last season and getting swept the year before that - the Suns as constructed represented the best chance Beal ever had to win a championship. That's how bleak his tenure with the Washington Wizards was, but that is no longer true.

It's easy to talk yourself into playing with Durant, less so Green and Dillon Brooks. If Beal does waive that no-trade clause, there still aren't likely to be a ton of calls about him. The Wizards and Atlanta Hawks are the only known teams to have ever even considered going in for Beal, and the two-years and $110 million left on his current contract are the reason why.

Which makes the buyout route more likely, even if that doesn't solve all of the Suns' problems either. They somehow are even further above the second apron after the Durant deal - and while buying out Beal would help moving forward - a large portion of his salary would still impact their cap sheet for the next two years.

Purely from a basketball sense the team has to move on from Beal, as with Durant gone there's no point in keeping him around. It is time to re-tool around Booker with a mix of young players and veterans who can fill a role on this roster the way Beal cannot. The Suns might have been fleeced in the Durant deal, but this would put a positive spin on a dreadful moment in The Valley.