The Phoenix Suns’ trade for Bradley Beal is an utter failure in every sense of the word. The Big 3 — Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant — were meant to be a world-beating trio. But in their first fully healthy season together, the Suns didn’t even make the Play-In tournament, finishing 11th in the West with a 36-46 record.
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To make matters worse, they’ve fired coach Mike Budenholzer too. So, there will be large-scale changes in the Valley in the off-season. Kevin Durant may be the first casualty in the off-season, with multiple reports claiming the Suns will move on from him for a better chance at winning. Of course, this isn’t his fault in the slightest.
But Beal’s no-trade clause means the Suns cannot move him unless he agrees. Former NBA champion Matt Barnes, on this week’s All the Smoke podcast, claimed that the Suns may be engaging in some unfair practices because the Suns’ CEO and Beal’s agent are related.
Josh Bartlestein, the Suns’ CEO, is the son of Beal’s agent, Mark Bartlestein, who also owns the company, Priority Sports.
“So there was some insider trading. Mark is Beal’s agent, Mark’s son is the CEO of the Suns, so there was some insider trading going on with that team,” said Barnes.
“We all know that the Beal experiment has not worked out, the team has been bad, he hasn’t been very good, played no more than 53 games each season,” he added.
Barnes pointed out how Beal’s refusal to be traded to the Miami Heat for Jimmy Butler caused internal dominoes to fall. It put the trade target on Durant’s back instead. Missing out on Butler further worsened the Suns’ season. Butler, meanwhile, helped the Golden State Warriors get to the Play-In.
Beal himself feels that the Suns’ setup will go through changes, but has lauded his teammates for not harboring any ill feelings toward him and with each other. “I’m always confident in what we have, man,” he said in an interview with Sports Illustrated recently.
“I believe in what we got in there. Things happen. We didn’t have a good year. I love Phoenix. I love being here. Hopefully I can continue to be here, but I know Mat (Ishbia) is probably going to make some changes. But I enjoyed this group, it was a fun group to be a part of,” Beal added.
Some of the blame for this situation should go to the Washington Wizards organization. They had presented Beal with a no-trade clause in the first place.
For the Suns, putting their future on a 29-year-old may have seemed like a smart move back in 2023. But that decision seems to have come back to bite them hard.
