3 Suns who are underperforming, 4 exceeding expectations at the All-Star break
By Will Eudy
Underperforming: Bradley Beal
To be clear, this segment is not meant to take a dig at Bradley Beal or his talent. He remains one of the premier isolation scorers in the NBA, and his contributions to the Suns have been significant. That said, it is fair to say that many would still argue he has performed below what many expected this season.
Coming in to this first year with his new team, Beal had been putting up at least 20 points per game in his last seven seasons in a row. This season, he is averaging just 18.2 points on average per night. You can chalk a lot of that up to injury trouble and the fact that he has not consistently been on the floor all season long.
But at the end of the day, Beal is doing less than what we thought he would. In the end, that may not end up being a bad thing. Playing next to two of the only players in the league that are better off-the-dribble scorers than him, it is not a bad idea to conserve some of Beal's energy for the playoffs.
If this core remains together in the long run, Beal would likely be able to elongate his career by being relied upon less to score as well as being targeted less by opposing lockdown defenders.