Bradley Beal and the Phoenix Suns were able to enjoy a season-opening win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. But as it turns out, the Suns weren’t even Beal’s preferred trade destination this past summer.
In a recent interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Beal revealed that he initially wanted to join the Miami Heat. He indicated that the Suns weren’t even his second choice as the Milwaukee Bucks were “very close in the running” and that he was interested in them.
“So, my initial favorite was Miami,” Beal said. “And so, we call Miami. Pat [Riley] says well I’ll go talk to Micky [Arison] and figure it out. So he goes, talks to Micky, we go, we hear back Knicks, Sacramento, Brooklyn a little bit, and then it was Milwaukee and it was one more big team. And that was kind of one of the most difficult things about every trade and every team. And I respect and love every team, but a lot of them just couldn’t do it because the money was just so high… I’m like, ‘OK, what’s Miami doing? Dragging feet.’ And eventually it came to a point to where Miami said they just can’t do it. And that kind of was like [a disappointment]. I was like, ‘Dang, that was my spot.’ But it was eye-opener for sure.”
Suns guard Bradley Beal (back) was heartbroken about not debuting against the Warriors tonight but is leaning toward playing Thursday against the Lakers, a source told @andscape. https://t.co/2rak05jVE2
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) October 25, 2023
Ultimately, when Beal saw that the Suns wanted him badly enough and realized that Miami and Milwaukee were likely out of the running, he waived his no-trade clause to join the Suns.
“And that’s why I said I went into everything kind of open-minded and with an open slate. And out of nowhere here comes a dark horse in Phoenix and their aggressiveness pushed me over the top. Milwaukee was very close in the running as well, but they were going to make some moves that I didn’t necessarily like in the trade, too. So, I guess that’s the beauty of having a no-trade clause. You get to have a little bit of say-so in the deal. But in the end, man, it ultimately just felt like Phoenix picked me.”
Beal is still waiting to make his on-court debut for the Suns as he deals with a back injury. But he surely must have enjoyed seeing the team get a big win while he continues to recover.