The Suns striking a deal to acquire Bradley Beal from the Wizards was the most talked about trade of the offseason prior to the blockbuster Damian Lillard deal just weeks ago. This week, Beal opened up about how the trade came together and detailed when the Suns emerged as a "dark horse" after his initial desire to land with the Heat, which Andscape's Marc J. Spears detailed.
Beal was an open book in the feature with Andscape, which included revealing the fact that the Knicks, Kings, Nets and Bucks were among the teams in the mix early on. But Beal admitted that the financial side of a potential deal made it tough for "a lot of" teams to strike a trade for him.
Beal then laid out how the deal with the Suns came about, and cited that Miami was "dragging feet" before saying they couldn't do a deal, while the Bucks were "very close" as well.
"So, out of nowhere I get a call and it’s Mat Ishbia in Phoenix. I’m like, ‘Y’all about to trade Book? How is that going to happen? How is that going to work?’ That didn’t even cross my mind of going to Phoenix. And sure enough, they just kept pressing and pressing and I’m nudging my agent," Beal said.
"I’m like, ‘OK, what’s Miami doing? Dragging feet.’ And eventually it came to a point to where Miami said they just can’t do it. But it was an eye-opener for sure. And that’s why I said I went into everything kind of open-minded and with an open slate. And out of nowhere here comes a dark horse in Phoenix and their aggressiveness pushed me over the top. Milwaukee was very close in the running as well, but they were going to make some moves that I didn’t necessarily like in the trade, too."
It's interesting to hear Beal's insight on the whole deal from start to finish in his story, which includes much more additional detail starting from when he initially moved forward with the trade request.
The new-look Suns will begin the 2023-24 NBA season with a road game against the Warriors, which Beal is not expected to play in due to a back ailment the team is being cautious with, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
