Shooting Guard - Bradley Beal
The question marks begin now for the Suns, but we're going with conventional wisdom and slotting Bradley Beal in as the two-guard. It might make sense to bring him off the bench as the best sixth man in the league, but actually getting the 31-year-old to sign off on that is another problem altogether.
Making over $50 million this coming season, you just don't see that kind of money not start in the league. Not that the Suns are entirely trapped by Beal's current deal - it's actually not as bad as you think - and he was really good towards the end of last season.
When it comes to Brad Beal, it’s not all doom and gloom like some would have you believe (✍🏻 @LucaLockheart)https://t.co/N4rkYEv1xh
— Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) August 12, 2024
But as a player who likely won't ever make an All-Star team again and was limited to just 53 regular season games as his body began to break down, this looks like a position that will be returned to often during the season. Grayson Allen waiting in the wings to reclaim the starting spot that he's unfortunate to have lost in the first place.
Beal still managed an impressive 18.2 points per game, his lowest output in nearly a decade but given he's the third option at best in The Valley, not a bad return. The good news is that Beal shot 43 percent from deep en route to amassing that average, and actually bumped that number slightly higher to 43.5 percent during the playoffs. More of that and this spot remains his.