In an NBA where the new CBA was set up to prevent a collection of stars, the Phoenix Suns are going for it anyway.
The Suns have agreed to trade Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns for Chris Paul — his salary for this season gets picked up at $30.8 million — Landry Shamet, a couple of second-round picks and multiple pick swaps, a story broken almost simultaneously by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Beal had to waive his no-trade clause to allow this trade to go through, and Wojnarowski got confirmation from Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, that he would do so.
“This was an extremely complicated process with so many different hurdles to get through and Ted Leonsis and Michael Winger were unbelievable partners in making this happen,” Bartelstein told ESPN. “From the day that Ted drafted Brad he has been by our side along with [former general managers] Ernie Grunfeld and Tommy Sheppard. They’ve always had Brad’s back in every way and now we have experienced the exact same thing with Ted and Michael Winger. We are extremely grateful.”
It’s another big swing for new Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who took control of the team — and basketball operations — just before the trade deadline and made the move for Kevin Durant, putting him next to Devin Booker. He has gone all-in on a title, but it comes with challenges and risks.
This forms a “big 3” top-heavy team for Phoenix that will be a playoff threat in the West if all their players can make it to the postseason healthy (both Durant and Beal have injury histories in recent years).
However, the Suns just got bounced from the playoffs by the Nuggets because Denver had superior depth (and with that, versatility). Having Beal making $46.7 million next season,
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