Suns fans are dying laughing at Ty Lue's delusional Bradley Beal comments

The Phoenix Suns parted ways with Bradley Beal this offseason - and once he was officially bought out by the franchise - he was gratefully scooped up by the L.A. Clippers. Should they be worried that they appear to be making the same mistakes as the Suns, and pairing a 32-year-old Beal with Kawhi Leonard (34) and James Harden (36)?

Maybe, but that is for the second team in Los Angeles to figure out. The Suns are now going in a younger direction and clearly have a more long-term approach, although it remains to be seen how superstar Devin Booker feels about that. Back to the Clippers though, and their head coach Tyronn Lue seems really happy to have Beal in Los Angeles.

Lue is convinced Beal can be a difference-maker defensively.

Lue took to Shannon Sharpe's podcast "Club Shay Shay" recently, and was quick to praise Beal as a third option who was overlooked and under-appreciated in Phoenix. Fans in The Valley have different memories of his two seasons there, one in which he wasn't worth the massive money he was on and was limited to only 53 regular season games on both occasions.

While it was understandable that Lue would try and big up his new recruit - the prospect of Beal on a two-year, $10 million deal is a much more appealing one than what Phoenix had to endure - he then went too far in talking about Beal's defensive qualities. You can check out the below for yourself and come to your own conclusions - but for one of the best minds in the game - this is ridiculous.

The idea that Beal has always been good defensively is not quite right, although it is fair to point out that when healthy with the Washington Wizards, his ridiculous speed did make a difference on that end. He was able to get back and help teammates who were blown by, and he had a nice knack for getting into passing lanes as well. But that vanished once he got to Phoenix.

The Suns ranked 27th in defensive rating last season, giving up 117.7 points per game. When Beal was out there that number somehow grew to 118.6. To make matters worse, that represented a plus/minus rating of minus 8.0 on the season too, as Beal failed to have the desired impact offensively on a lot of nights as well.

To give him some kind of respite here - when Frank Vogel was in charge the previous season and the Suns were somehow an above average defensive team - they gave up 113.2 points when he was out there. He will also be playing with Leonard and center Ivica Zubac as well, two of the best players in the league at their positions when it comes to defending.

Really though this is Lue clutching at straws. To say Beal will improve dramatically if they can get him more engaged isn't going to happen, because it didn't with the Suns. The reality of what you have to sacrifice to be a third option was too much for him, and that was when he could even get on the court. The Clippers and coach Lue are going to learn this the hard way.