Beal joins Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to form new superteam
Bradley Beal was one of the biggest names expected to be on the move during the offseason and it didn’t take long for him to find a new team. The Phoenix Suns have reportedly agreed to trade Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, and several second-round draft picks to the Washington Wizards for Beal. A pick swap is also reported to be included in the deal.
The deal has not formally been announced, as the Wizards may be working on a third team to send Paul somewhere rather than just release him and agree to a contract buyout, but it does appear that the Suns are getting Beal unless something major happens to force the deal to fall through.
Bradley Beal to the Suns
The Suns have four players under max contracts in Beal, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Deandre Ayton, who could be traded this summer to create some salary cap flexibility. As things stand, those four and Cameron Payne are the only players officially under contract for Phoenix. That means that depth is seriously lacking and Phoenix will need to wheel and deal to put together an actual roster.
Minimum contracts will have to fill out the rest of the roster and the team may have to get creative with its assortment of draft picks as well.
However, with the big names on the roster and a changing of the guard in the Western Conference, the Suns are +650 to win the NBA title and +330 to win the West at DraftKings Sportsbook. Previously, Phoenix was around +850 to win the title, with the reigning champion Nuggets the favorites and then the Celtics and Bucks with shorter odds. Now, the Suns are the third choice behind the Nuggets (+475) and Celtics (+550).
What the Beal trade means for the Wizards
The Wizards had limited leverage, as Beal had strongly expressed a desire to be traded and he has $207 million left on his contract. He will have to agree to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to be completed, but that seems like a mere formality at this point.
Washington is +300000 to win the NBA title at DraftKings and may end up being one of the worst teams in the league, even with the No. 8 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft. Washington also has the 12th pick of the second round and the 27th pick, but more picks are coming in this proposed trade. The Suns do not have a first-round pick, so unless Washington adds one with a third team in the deal, they will only have one.
We’ll update this trade as it gets finalized and if a third team gets added, but keep it locked here at VSiN.com for more on Thursday’s NBA Draft.
