The Phoenix Suns were certainly doing their homework before nabbing All-Star guard Bradley Beal recently.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!According to SNY’s Ian Begley, Phoenix inquired about trading for Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving prior to trading for Beal. The deal would have reportedly included Chris Paul, who was later included in the deal for Beal:
“The Suns were among the teams to reach out to Dallas about a potential sign-and-trade for Irving earlier in the offseason, per sources familiar with the matter. Dallas, presumably, wasn’t interested in what the Suns offered at the time. If the Mavs were blown away by the offer, logic says that Beal wouldn’t be a Sun today.
Irving has been linked to the Suns on numerous occasions. Even dating back to his trade request in 2017 from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix was atop his list. After the Suns acquired Kevin Durant, the Irving rumors reignited.
With Beal now in Phoenix, adding Irving would seem to be heavily unlikely. The fit into a system with Beal, Durant and Devin Booker would be redundant. Even after crossing those waters, there’s still an ugly salary cap situation in Phoenix.
The Suns could still look into a Deandre Ayton swap for Irving, but it wouldn’t help their flexibility going forward. Booker and Beal aren’t traditional point guards, but their ball-handling duties will more than make up for it.
Phoenix agreed to trade for Beal in exchange for Paul, Landry Shamet, second- round picks and pick swaps.
The Suns still have a lot of depth to make up for between the Durant and Beal trades. The front office will certainly be busy leading up to the NBA draft on Thursday.
