The Phoenix Suns may have traded away Kevin Durant this offseason, but far less has been made of the franchise's ability to also move on from the Bradley Beal experience. Despite having a whopping $110 million owed to him across the next two seasons, the Suns decided to buy out the 32-year-old so they could move into what they hope will be a better era around Devin Booker.
Beal gave the organization back nearly $14 million to get the deal done, but the Suns do now carry his salary on their books for the next five years. That doesn't seem very important now as this team has modest expectations for next season, but it will sting as they try and put the pieces together to contend again down the road.
Tyronn Lue thinks Beal was overlooked in Phoenix.
Another key factor that hampered Beal's time in The Valley was the monster money he was on, combined with his no-trade clause. Had he been making less, then perhaps his output as their third option would have been looked upon more favorably. As Jalen Green may also be about to find out, it wasn't Beal's fault that the fit next to Booker wasn't great as neither are true point guards.
Beal's new coach with the L.A. Clippers Tyronn Lue was recently on Shannon Sharpe's podcast "Club Shay Shay", and throughout the course of their long conversation, the subject of Beal naturally came up. You would expect Lue to say all of the right things about his new player, but Lue went too far in his praise of Beal.
"When you play for a team like Phoenix like he did the last couple of years, you got Booker and KD (Durant) and you’re the third option." That may be true, but it is also on Beal that he was never able to contribute more than he ultimately did. Had he done so, the Suns surely would have won a single playoff game across the last two seasons.
In fact Beal was overshadowed by a role player in Grayson Allen in his first season in Phoenix, with Allen seizing the opportunity and leading the entire league in 3-point shooting (46.1 percent). Beal never truly settled as the third option with the Suns, but he was also tired of being the guy with the Washington Wizards, not having the help and never getting anywhere.
"Those are unbelievable stats (17.6 points shooting over 40 percent from deep during his tenure in The Valley), but when you’re playing with KD and Book, it kind of gets overshadowed. I think by coming here, I think it’s a fresh start and I think he’s going to be great for us." A fresh start was indeed needed by both player and team, but why does Lue think it can be any different in Los Angeles?
Beal will again be the third option at best offensively, while his new teammate James Harden is among the most ball-dominant players we've seen this century. He is also a more natural playmaker - and co-star Kawhi Leonard a much better two-way player than either Booker or Durant because of his incredible defending - but that doesn't guarantee success for Beal.
If anything joining an ageing core and a less durable teammate in Leonard is going to put more expectations on Beal, with defending at a high level not something he was known for with the Suns. He also played 53 games in his two regular season stints with the team, and that lack of availability and consistency ruined his momentum in The Valley. A reality check is coming Lue's way.