Having already been dealt a blow this offseason in trading Kevin Durant for a rather underwhelming return, the Phoenix Suns are headed for another bitter gut punch that could be delivered by the Golden State Warriors.
The Suns appear in the process of executing a buyout with veteran guard Bradley Beal, allowing the 3x All-Star to become an unrestricted free agent where the Warriors are set to have serious interest.
The Warriors can serve a gut punch to the Suns by signing Bradley Beal
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer on Tuesday, Golden State are one a slew of teams set to have interest in Beal once he officially becomes a free agent, with both teams in Los Angeles, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Minnesota Timberwolves also linked to the 32-year-old.
The Beal experience in Phoenix has been a disaster, having acquired him two years ago in a trade with the Washington Wizards that subsequently landed Chris Paul with the Warriors shortly after. The Suns were swept in the first-round of the playoffs last year, then failed to even make the Play-In Tournament this time around.
Beal played just 106 of a possible 164 regular season games over the last two years, and there’s now no takers for him as a trade candidate given he’s got two years and over $110 million remaining on his contract, along with a very publicized no-trade clause.
It’s left the Suns with no alternative but to execute a buyout and stretch the remainder of Beal’s contract over a five-year period, but their scraps could well be another team’s treasure heading into next season.
Sure, the Beal tenure in Phoenix has been a nightmare, but the 6’4″ guard still averaged 17.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season while shooting 49.7% from the floor and 38.6% from 3-point range. The year before he averaged 18.2 points on 51.3% shooting and 43% from beyond the arc, proving that he’s still a very productive offensive player who could be a steal on a much lesser contract.
Not only does it hurt the Suns to have to make this decision to part ways with Beal in rather drastic fashion, but having him go to a close divisional rival like the Warriors would make things even worse. It means they could see their former player four times during the regular season, knowing full well that Beal will surely be motivated to bring his best and make them regret this current decision.
Golden State face no shortage of competition for Beal’s services, yet adding him should be a priority in order to provide a perfect third scoring option to complement Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler.
Things have been quiet on the free agency front for the Warriors as they look to resolve Jonathan Kuminga’s future, but speculation is ramping up with the franchise likely to sign Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton on top of this reported interest in Beal.
