The Phoenix Suns moved Bradley Beal to the bench on Monday night in an effort to shake up what has been a disappointing season under first-year coach Mike Budenholzer. It worked, at least for one night, with the Suns defeating the Philadelphia 76ers.
It was a small victory. The 76ers were without Joel Embiid. But still, Beal had 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and the Suns won his minutes by 14 points.
Of course, Beal’s move to the bench isn’t the only reason his name has been in the news of late. Jimmy Butler wants out of Miami, and Phoenix is widely reported to be one of Butler’s preferred destinations. A deal between Miami and Phoenix cannot happen without Beal included for salary purposes, but Beal has veto power over any deal via a no-trade clause, be it for Butler or anyone else.
So if Beal holds all the cards if the Suns want to make any sort of significant trade in which his salary is a necessary component, is it possible that this move to the bench isn’t as much about production but rather an effort to alienate Beal to the point that he would sign off on a trade? Beal was asked about that on Monday.
“If so, I need to be addressed because I hold the cards,” Beal said. “Until I’m addressed and somebody says something different, then I’m gonna be a Sun.”
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, for one, believes this idea of basically ticking Beal off enough to get him to OK a trade is exactly what Phoenix is trying to pull.
“Let me put those rumors on Beal to rest,” Windhorst said Tuesday on First Take. “[The Suns] absolutely are trying to trade Bradley Beal. One of the cardinal rules in sports … is you never devalue your players, your assets. … They put him on the bench. You may say, ‘Why would you do that?’
“That’s because, guys, this situation is bleeped. The reason it’s bleeped is … the only way they can trade him is if he says, ‘I’m OK to be traded.’ So instead of trying to build him up, they have to violate the cardinal rule and put him on the bench. … They’re basically trying to make him feel unwelcome in Phoenix so that he will waive that no-trade clause. The player they want to trade him for is Jimmy Butler, but the Heat don’t want Bradley Beal.”
The last part of that quote is just as important as it pertains to a Butler deal. Even if Beal would waive his no-trade clause to go to Miami, the Heat don’t appear to want Beal.
But there are potentially other deals Phoenix can and would like to pursue with Beal as part of the outgoing package. It’s not unreasonable that they would be, if not outright trying to alienate him, trying to at least make him question his role moving forward in Phoenix.
We have less than a month until the February 6 trade deadline. Stay tuned.
