The Phoenix Suns are imploding, and one of their stars is apparently interested in the Denver Nuggets as an escape from the black hole.
Our colleagues at Arizona Sports report that Bradley Beal has listed the Nuggets among teams he would waive his no-trade clause for if he was dealt. The 31-year-old three-time All-Star was paired with Kevin Durant to make a big three around Devin Booker. With the addition of former Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic being a high-priced and noteworthy fourth piece. On Sunday both Beal and Nurkic were moved to the bench, according to reports. It’s just the latest for a Suns team, which fired its coach after each of their last two seasons and has tried to make some massive moves under new owner Mat Ishbia. All of it seems to be coming to a head and ending in chaos very soon.
Beal has been in trade rumors ever since Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler dyed his hair orange shortly after it was reported the Suns were at the top of his trade destination wish list a few weeks back. Butler is on his way out of Miami but both guys have contracts that are hard to move under the new collective bargaining agreement. In fact, Beal might be the most untradable player in the league and that’s before even looking at his no-trade clause. The two-guard is set to make $50.1 million this season, $53.6 million next year and $57.1 million for the 2026-27 season via a player option he will pick up. And the Suns are deep into the second tax apron which restricts movement.
Beal has not lived up to expectations in the desert though he’s been mostly fine if you look at the stats. He’s had to change his mindset from being the player who starred on the Wizards for 11 seasons to third fiddle the past two seasons. He’s had to play more defense, connect for other players and at times switch to playing point guard. Beal has the team’s worst net rating when on the court (-9.3) and Phoenix’s best when off it (3.3). But most will still see Beal’s 17.8 points per game on 48% shooting as a sign that the former 30-point-per-game scorer is still in there.
Nonetheless, it’s hard to argue that he’s worth $50 million and because of his no-trade clause, even if the Suns found a team to take Beal’s salary, it’s unlikely he would want to play for that team. Thus we’ve landed with LA, Miami and Denver being the only destinations for the two-guard.
For the Nuggets, it makes no sense to get Beal. They would need to orchestrate an extremely complex deal built around Michael Porter Jr., who at this point is a better player than Beal. MPJ also fits Denver better since they badly need his size and ability to slide into a frontcourt role whereas Beal’s struggles in fitting in being a third piece would be the same issues around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray for the Nuggets.
There are a couple of ways to look at this news though, which is that if Beal ever came available at a cheaper price, maybe he would want to come to Denver. Similar to how Russell Westbrook is in the Mile High City now, the Nuggets didn’t get these former All-Stars in the past but Jokic has raised the profile of the franchise for players to ring chase. The news also shows how far the Suns have fallen and what looked to be a budding rivalry between Kentucky’s Booker and Murray for years is likely already in the past. The Suns may have gotten the Nuggets in four but Denver punched back to beat Phoenix en route to a title all the while they missed their window altogether thanks to their wild new owner. So at least there’s one less team in the West to worry about for the Nuggets and shockingly, it looks like yet another superteam blows up without much success.
