Washington Wizards Finalizing Deal to Trade Three-Time All-Star Bradley Beal
Bradley Beal will be playing for a new NBA team next season. According to ESPN, the Washington Wizards are finalizing a deal to trade Beal to the Phoenix Suns. The trade package is expected to include Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, several second-round picks and a picks swap. The Wizards also agreed to send Jordan Goodwin and Isaiah Todd to the Suns.
The deal will reportedly take a few days to complete to allow the Wizards to field offers to make the deal a three-time trade to give Paul the chance to play for a title contender. If that doesn't happen, the Wizards and Paul could agree to buy out his contract so he can be a free agent. Beal lifted his no-trade clause and will join Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Deandre Ayton for the 2023-24 season.
"This was an extremely complicated process with so many different hurdles to get through, and [Wizards owner] Ted Leonsis and [Wizards president] Michael Winger were unbelievable partners in making this happen," Beal's agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN. "From the day that Ted drafted Brad, he has been by our side along with [former general managers] Ernie Grunfeld and Tommy Sheppard. They've always had Brad's back in every way and now we have experienced the exact same thing with Ted and Michael Winger. We are extremely grateful."
Beal, 29, was selected by the Wizards at No. 3 overall in the 2012 NBA Draft. He was selected to the All-Rookie Team in 2013 and named to the All-Star Team three times (2018, 2019, 2021). His best season was in 2021 when he was selected to the All-NBA Team after averaging 31.3, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. Beal has played in 45 playoff games and averaged 23.5 points in postseason play.
In an interview with The Athletic in October, Beal talked about his goal for the Wizards this past season, "I've been an All-Star, I've been an All-NBA guy, I've scored 30-plus points in back-to-back years," he said. "What individual goals am I really after, right? Those would be great. Those come with winning. It doesn't make sense to score 30 a game and get snubbed to be an All-Star because you're not winning. So if we win games, those little accolades take care of themselves. But I just want to win. I want to be able to get my team to the playoffs, win a series, get to the next series, win a series, get to the conference finals, win that series, get to the finals and hopefully win that."