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Grading Bradley Beal's Season With Suns Through NBA All-Star Break

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By JH Kubicek | Last updated Feb 13, 2025 5:27 PM ET

As the Phoenix Suns suffer through a disapointing season, Bradley Beal has become both public enemy No. 1 in the desert as well as a perfect scapegoat.

Before the NBA trade deadline, it was very clear that the Suns would not be able to make any noise in the playoffs with their current roster, and they were expected to make some massive changes. As the third star and odd man out, the Suns' best course was to trade Beal, but he is one of the few players in the NBA with a no-trade clause.

While it would be easy to give him a D grade for his performance simply for not waiving his no-trade clause, it's my belief that falls on the shoulders of Suns' management; they knew what they were getting into and knew how much power Beal would have, and agreed nonetheless.

However, his on-court production has dropped significantly. All of his major stats, including shooting percentages, are worse than last season.

Over his last 14 games, he has come off the bench and has averaged 16.6 points on solid shooting numbers, and would be in the running for Sixth Man of the Year had he made the move earlier, although he insists that he is "a starter in this league," and hasn't exactly embraced change for the sake of the team.

When factoring in only the on-court production and results, Beal is the third-best (maybe fourth, Nick Richards has been solid) player on a bad team who hasn't shown improvement, and hardly cares that the team is floundering, so even without factoring in his refusal to waive his no-trade clause, he gets a D+.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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