Trade rumors continue to grow around the Suns over the past few weeks and now it looks like they may be trying to help make them happen. Phoenix is one of the few teams that Heat star Jimmy Butler has said that he wants to get traded to and the Suns would love to have him. The problem is, in order for the Suns to acquire him, they would need to trade Bradley Beal. Few teams are willing to take on his enormous contract and Miami has made it clear they aren’t interested.
So what now?
Well, Phoenix’s only options left to get Butler would be to either wait and see if Miami changes their mind and is willing to take Beal and his contract, or try and bring in a third team. The trade is further complicated by the fact that Beal has a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would have agree to a deal in order for it to be processed.
This is where it appears the Suns have tried to make a power play to force the issue.
The two ways to get a player to waive his no-trade clause is to either have the trade send him to a team he wants to play for, or make his current situation with your team so bad that they are willing to accept any trade just to get a fresh start. It appears Phoenix may be trying to latter. In a shocking move, the Suns moved Beal out of the starting lineup and to the bench for Monday nights game. Several reports across the league say the team is trying their best to make him uncomfortable with his role and with the franchise in order to get him to be open to being traded.
To his credit, Beal was the definition of a professional. He not only accepted the benching, but he played one of his best games of the year, finishing with 25 points. Following the game he took questions over the benching and said he didn’t agree with it and that he knows he is a starter in this league. He also stated that he has not heard from the team that they are wanting to trade him and if that’s what the Suns want, then they need to communicate it to him.
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Spenser Tilus is a sports reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @Spenser_Tilus
