The Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards pulled off a blockbuster deal on Sunday, as the Wizards sent star guard Bradley Beal to Phoenix in exchange for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, multiple second-round picks and multiple pick swaps. The deal should help Phoenix on its quest to land the first title in franchise history, while the Wizards will now press the restart button after moving on from the Beal era.
Here’s a look at some winners and losers from the deal.
Winner: Bradley Beal
After spending the entirety of his career to this point in Washington on a Wizards team that was never able to advance past the second round and was never really a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference, Beal should now get an opportunity to truly contend on a team with legitimate championship aspirations. Legacies are cemented in the postseason, but Beal has appeared in just 11 total playoff games since 2017. On a Suns squad alongside Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, he should get more of an opportunity to showcase his game on a bigger stage.
Loser: Wizards
It’s tough to feel too good about this deal if you’re a Wizards fan, and the team’s front office probably shouldn’t feel great about it either. The team basically lost Beal — a multiple-time All-Star and the team’s best player in recent memory — for pennies on the dollar. They didn’t receive any star-level players or young guys with high upside in return for Beal. They didn’t get a single first round pick for him either. There were plenty of reasons for teams to be hesitant about trading too much for Beal, but he still should have commanded a higher return, especially when you consider what some other star players have been traded for recently. The one silver lining for Wizards fans is that the organization was able to clear Beal’s massive deal from the books, so maybe means the team will finally undergo a full, proper rebuild.
Winner: Suns
Considering what they had to give up to land a three-time All-Star in Beal, the Suns are definitely winners in this deal. They landed one of the better…
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