The Washington Wizards reportedly are finalizing a deal to trade All-Star guard Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns, according to multiple reports. Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports confirmed the deal is in the works.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Suns are sending Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, a package of future second-round picks and multiple pick swaps to Washington in the exchange. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Wizards are also including Isaiah Todd in the trade as well.
But the biggest domino to fall was this: Beal waived his no-trade clause to be sent to the Suns, Bartelstein said Sunday. There is a chance that the trade could eventually include a third team, specifically to acquire Paul, but the basic framework is done.
BREAKING: The Washington Wizards are finalizing a trade to send All-Star G Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns, sources tell ESPN. Beal’s waiving his no-trade to form a new Big 3 with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. Teams are still working thru framework, but Beal is headed to Suns. pic.twitter.com/0lQrSh370q
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 18, 2023
ESPN Sources: In addition to Bradley Beal and Jordan Goodwin, the Wizards are including F Isaiah Todd in trade with the Suns. Todd – the 31st pick in 2021 – has mostly played with Wizards' G-League affiliate the past two seasons. His $1.8M contract is guaranteed for 2023-2024.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 19, 2023
BREAKING: The Washington Wizards are trading three-time All-Star Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, a handful of second-round picks, and multiple pick swaps, league sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 18, 2023
Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports confirmed to ESPN that a framework is in place that’ll land Beal with Suns. “This was an extremely complicated process with so many different hurdles to get through and Ted Leonsis and Michael Winger were unbelievable partners in…
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 18, 2023
The reported deal apparently caught Paul off guard. In an interview on Monday’s episode of “Good Morning America” in New York, Paul said he found out about the deal while he was traveling to be on the show.
“I was surprised, too,” Paul said with a laugh. “I found out on the plane yesterday flying here. In this league, anything can happen. Just figure out what’s next.”
“I was surprised too … in this league anything can happen.”
Chris Paul says he found out on a flight to NYC on Sunday about reports of being traded to the Washington Wizards by the Phoenix Suns.@CP3#NBA pic.twitter.com/MbDpnf129h
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 19, 2023
Paul came to the desert in 2020, bringing instant credibility to the Suns, who had languished near the bottom of the standings for the better part of a decade. The point guard formed a formidable backcourt with Devin Booker, and the Suns came agonizingly close to a championship, winning the first two games of the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 before losing the next four.
The Suns were also good in the past two regular seasons, but suffered back-to-back embarrassing playoff exits on their home floor.
That was apparently enough for new owner Matt Ishbia to decide that wholesale changes needed to be made.
Ishbia — who took over control of the team from the embattled Robert Sarver in February — hasn’t been shy about making big moves, even before their latest playoff exit. The Suns landed Kevin Durant for a massive combination of players and first-round draft picks just days after formally taking over the Suns in February.
The bold move failed to produce a championship, so Ishbia continued his overhaul.
The Suns recently fired coach Monty Williams, who was the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2022, and brought in Frank Vogel, who led the Lakers to a title in the Florida bubble in 2020. Now the team is moving on from the 38-year-old Paul and bringing in Beal, a three-time All-Star, who has averaged 23.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists in his 10-year career.
This reported trade is also the start of something new, and probably needed, in Washington. The Wizards have finished with a losing record in each of the last five seasons, missing the playoffs in four of those, and haven’t won a postseason series since 2018. The Wizards will pick eighth in Thursday’s draft, and Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis could decide later this week to become free agents by declining player options — moves that seem likely.
The deal was struck less than a week after Denver topped Miami in the NBA Finals, and with the Heat having also spent the last few days working with the Wizards on the possibility of acquiring Beal.
There are three active players in the NBA with at least 500 games played while averaging at least 22 points per game. Phoenix now has three of them in Beal, Durant and Booker. They will make about $130 million combined next season, meaning the Suns will pay a ransom in salary and tax for this title shot.
Beal is entering the second year of what could be a five-year, $251 million contract; the last of those years is at his option and would pay him $57.1 million. Over the next four years, he’s owed about $207.7 million.
Paul, a 12-time All-Star and member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, averaged a career-low 13.9 points last season to go along with 8.9 assists and 1.5 steals over 59 games. The 37-year-old guard has two seasons remaining on the four-year deal he signed with Phoenix in 2021 after helping lead the team to the NBA Finals.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
