Let's face it, Bradley Beal's first season with the Phoenix Suns was a rocky one. Limited to just 53 regular season games played as a result of several different injuries - and with $160 million still owed to him across the next three seasons - it would be a stretch to say the Suns were right to trade for him.
Then again, when the alternative was sticking with an ageing Chris Paul, perhaps moving for Beal and his no-trade clause was the correct move to make. No matter how you look at it though, the hope is that the best is yet to come for Beal in The Valley.
Not that he is viewed negatively by everybody, with one former teammate picking Beal on his top five of teammates they've had throughout their career.
That player would be Rui Hachimura - now of the Los Angeles Lakers - who laced them up alongside Beal when the pair played for a listless Washington Wizards organization. To be fair to Hachimura, he's played with some ballers in his time in the league, yet he still found a place for Beal in his starting five.
Rui has played with some of the best in the game ✨#Paris2024 x #Basketball pic.twitter.com/X6eSgtLUYz
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 23, 2024
We're not quite sure Beal needed this, then again we are the very people who recently argued pretty strongly about the former All-Star coming off the bench next season. Hachimura was asked the question while playing for Japan ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris, a tournament Beal is a million miles away from being involved in.
Hard as it may be to remember now, there was a time when Beal was not only the first option for the Wizards, but also a player who didn't miss a regular season game in back-to-back seasons between 2017-19. Suns fans might also lament the fact Beal put up a (still impressive) 18.2 points per game last season, having managed more than 30 a game twice while in Washington.
That is the version of Beal that Hachimura most fondly remembers - and no matter how his tenure in Phoenix ultimately goes - it is reason enough to give him his flowers. Still only 31-years-old and with the benefit of having been one of the Suns' best players down the stretch last season, there's reason to believe that version of Beal could make a reappearance in the coming years.