Of the three star players that the Phoenix Suns have on their roster, there is no doubt that Bradley Beal is the one they would move if they could. That's not totally fair on him either, after all it's not his fault that he was one of the few available individuals who the Suns could trade Chris Paul for last summer either.
Beal's first season in The Valley was disappointing, but that was as much to do with injury than anything else. Limited to 53 regular season appearances, it felt like fans didn't get to see the best of Beal. Despite this, he was still arguably the Suns' best player down the stretch of a campaign in which they won 49 games.
But with Beal also representing the most realistic way the franchise can get better, he is going to see himself in trade rumors this offseason.
Even though he has a no-trade clause that he would be unlikely to waive to go and play anywhere else in the league. Despite this - and really that clause is a bigger stumbling block than the heaps of money he is owed - the good folks over at PHNX Sports have come up with a three-team trade that would get the Suns out of these deep waters they find themselves in with Beal.
That right there... is a lot. The reasons for the Orlando Magic and Portland Trail Blazers to do this at least make sense on paper, so we'll run through them quickly. The Magic get rid of a popular player in Cole Anthony, but one who is outside of their core group of guys. He might be the heart of that organization - but so was Marcus Smart with the Boston Celtics - and they did just fine without him.
The Portland Trail Blazers would get a star in Beal to sell tickets, a pair of first round picks and a young guard in Anthony to pair with their young guards in Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons. A fivesome of Scoot, Anthony, Simons, Beal and former Sun Deandre Ayton would be a League Pass must each night, and not always for the right reasons.
But for the Suns, this would be a home run. They get out from under the $160 million owed to Beal across the next three seasons, and get two players in Jerami Grant and Matisse Thybulle who would bring much better balance to their roster. We spoke before about how Julius Randle could reinvent himself if he ever landed in Phoenix.
It would be the same with Grant, who in a lot of ways is a more willing and versatile defender than Randle as well. Thybulle is one of those players - a bit like Thabo Sefolosha back in the day - whose value is at its highest playing around offensive stars on a contender. His fit in The Valley would be excellent and he'd defend elite scorers every night.
The addition of that second round pick is also nice - the Suns turned one of those into Toumani Camara last summer - but really this is all about getting two players for Beal and not having to pay him for years to come as well. Would he waive that no-trade to go to - of all places - Portland? Absolutely not, but you can't blame PHNX Sports and everybody else for dreaming.