(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
For the last several years, Bradley Beal has been one of the NBA’s better guards, but not many people are fully aware of him because he has played on some bad and mediocre Washington Wizards teams.
He has operated in partial obscurity as a result, but those days appear to be over.
On Sunday, the Wizards agreed to trade Beal to the Phoenix Suns for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, and draft compensation.
The details of the trade are still being hammered out, as Paul could be re-routed to a third team, but it looks like Beal is headed to the Valley of the Sun.
Thus far in his career, his team has had a very poor record when he has scored at least 40 points, but that will likely change.
StatMuse shared the concerning stat below.
Beal has recorded 40+ points in 30 career games, the 10th-most in the NBA since his rookie season.
He is 8-22 when he scores 40+ points. pic.twitter.com/iZuFyacnwt
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 18, 2023
They will now have, at least on paper, a very impressive offensive team that will feature Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant.
Even in his mid-30s, Durant is still one of the game’s best players, while Booker could be its best one-on-one player.
Beal has averaged at least 22.6 points a game for seven consecutive seasons, and he is a very capable one-on-one scorer himself.
Although he isn’t very ball-dominant, there is a question about how things will work offensively for the Suns with him on board.
In addition, sending out Paul in this trade means they won’t have a quality point guard or floor general anymore to dictate the pace and get the ball where it needs to go.
There is also the question of whether Phoenix will have enough depth — backup guard Cameron Payne is now presumed to become a starter, while Shamet was a key 3-point shooter off the bench for them.
But they should be title contenders next season, as they will at least have the talent to score lots of points.
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