Suns Trade Rumors: Beal Open To Waiving No-Trade Clause

Bradley Beal is open to waiving his no-trade clause if the Phoenix Suns send him to an appropriate destination, according to a report by Fred Katz of The Athletic.

The Suns are trying to shop both Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic, who were recently moved to the bench to try and spark their season.

It’s also believed Beal prefers not to request a trade, and any initial process of moving would have to begin with Phoenix prompting the discussion.

Beal Benched To Want Out?

There has been some speculation Beal getting shifted to a bench role a couple weeks ago would have had an ulterior motive of pushing him to want out of Phoenix. All indications are this was a decision made for basketball reasons and the numbers back that up.

When starting Beal alongside Tyus Jones, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic, the Suns had a net rating of minus-17.8 over 254 possessions, per Cleaning the Glass. In 171 possessions with Ryan Dunn and Mason Plumlee in place of Beal and Nurkic, Phoenix has a net rating of plus-29.2 and holds a 6-3 record thus far.

The math checks out.

In seven games off the bench this season, Beal has averaged 14.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He has also led the team in scoring twice and missed a couple games due to an ankle injury.

His minutes aren’t awfully different, hovering around the 30-minute mark.

Who Wants Beal?

When Beal was traded by the Washington Wizards a couple seasons ago, his preferred list of teams besides Phoenix included the Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors.

Golden State has been connected with a possible deal for Jimmy Butler but not Beal. The Kings appear to be getting their season back on track under new head coach Doug Christie, and the Heat are stuck between a rock and a hard place with the Butler discussions.

Beal has three seasons and $160 million remaining on his contract, something that wouldn’t make sense for a lot of teams to take on.

Because of the deals to acquire Durant and Beal in the first place, the Suns don’t have much in the draft pick cabinet to try and sweeten deals involving Beal.