Phoenix Suns star Bradley Beal has softened his stance regarding his no-waive clause, hinting that he would be more open to a change of scenery after this season.
“It is a different deal in the summer,” Beal told ESPN. “Everything is kind of more laid out on the table. You got more options.”
The Suns unsuccessfully tried to move Beal for Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline. Beal, who is averaging a nine-year low 17.6 points per game in his second season in Phoenix, did not want to waive his no-trade clause which forced the Suns to entertain trade talks for Durant to acquire Butler.
But Durant, like Butler, did not want to uproot his life in the middle of the season. The 15-time NBA All-Star rejected a trade going back to the Golden State Warriors.
Butler ended up with the Warriors, who have surged to sixth place in the loaded Western Conference since his arrival.
Suns in Danger of Missing Postseason
On the other hand, the Suns continue to flounder with no major shakeup to the league’s most expensive roster that isn’t working.
After getting swept in the first round of the playoffs last season, the Suns fired Frank Vogel and installed another champion coach in Mike Budenholzer. They signed Tyus Jones to address their point guard hole.
Still it didn’t work.
They traded for the younger and more athletic Nick Richards and dealt away the ineffective Jusuf Nurkic.
Still it’s not working.
They are in danger of missing the postseason in the second year of their Big Three of Devin Booker, Durant and Butler.
Currently, they are 1.5 games outside of the play-in group with 15 games left, the toughest schedule remaining according to Tankathon.
Bradley Beal ‘Felt Disrespected’
Before the trade deadline, the Suns benched Beal in what was viewed as an effort to make him disgruntled and waive his no-trade clause.
The Suns, however, refuted those claims and adamantly said it was a strategy and not a trade ploy, according to ESPN, citing team sources.
Whatever the case may be, Beal admitted to ESPN he “felt disrespected.”
“I’m human, so I have to really take a step back and just kind of look at the big picture,” Beal told ESPN. “And my biggest thing is when I came here I want to win. I’ve scored 30 points a game. I’ve been an All-Star. I’ve been All-NBA. I want to win. That’s always been my label — I haven’t won anything. So whatever that looks like for the team, whether that’s me coming up the bench, whether it’s me starting, whether it’s me, whatever it is, I’m going to do it. Do I agree with it? Hell, no, but I’m not going to be that guy.
“I enjoy the game, man. This game is fun. I try not to let nobody take the joy out of it for me. It’s very hard. It’s hard. We’re all human beings, man. We have every right to shut down. We have every right to question what’s going on. You have every right to say, ‘Why me?’ But I feel like that just drags you down a little bit more than you need. I’m still playing in the NBA, I still have the best job in the world, and I still have my no-trade clause. So I’m smiling every day.”
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