Unpacking the latest rumblings ahead of Thursday’s NBA draft …
Is it reasonable to believe that Sunday’s agreed-upon trade that will send Bradley Beal to Phoenix is a bad deal for both teams?
On paper, Phoenix acquiring Beal, a former All-Star—albeit one with injury issues, which we’ll get to in a moment—feels like a win. The Suns were already planning for a post–Chris Paul future and swapping Landry Shamet, a back-of-the-rotation player, for a scorer like Beal is a no-brainer. Getting a deal done without a first-round pick—Phoenix, by virtue of some of the wheeling and dealing it has done the past few years, didn’t have one to trade—and without including DeAndre Ayton could be viewed as a masterstroke.