Bradley Beal is without doubt the most polarizing player on the Phoenix Suns' roster heading into the 2024-25 season. Although question marks will continue to linger around the long-term viability of center Jusuf Nurkic, Beal splits opinion like no other.
On the one hand there are those who think that as the Suns' third best player - which he still is - he is without doubt not only a starter, but massively important to what they're trying to achieve. Then there are others, who believe Beal should come off the bench with point guard Tyus Jones taking his spot in the starting lineup. Sorry Grayson Allen.
The idea of Beal ever being an All-Star again may seem laughable at this point, but it is far from impossible.
Still only 31-years-old, Beal is going to have plenty of opportunities to play a massive role in how this coming season goes for the Suns. If you were paying attention last season, then you'll know he was the franchise's best player down the stretch of a tough regular season. Reason enough to not give up on his talents just yet.
3. Lead the league in 3-point shooting
This stat alone wasn't enough for Allen to get some All-Star consideration last season - although we did try - and he ended up leading the league in this category at 46.1 percent. But if you dig deeper, the prospect of Beal being right up there in this category certainly exists and would help his push to return to an All-Star level.
Allen achieved his own fantastic average while taking 5.9 attempts per game during the regular season. Yet Beal wasn't lagging too far behind, as he managed an impressive 43 percent from beyond the arc on 4.4 takes each game. That number was a career high, and there's reason to believe it could continue to travel north.
Valuable as Allen is - and it is likely to now be off the bench - he's simply not going to get as many looks as Beal does each night. There's a pecking order, and Beal is clearly ahead of his teammate. Yes his 13.9 shots per game was the third lowest mark of his career - and we all know Beal will have to sacrifice the most offensively on this team - but it was still miles ahead of Allen's 9.1 per game.
In fact that number was a career high for Allen - which makes sense given he was on a heater all season long - but also shows that at 28-years-old and in a specialist role, it is not likely to improve much more. Beal is going to continue to operate in a lot of open space next to Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, and leading the league in threes would be a fantastic way to get noticed.