Analyst: Suns Star's Contract Among NBA's Worst

The Phoenix Suns overpaid for one of their stars.

Oct 11, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) looks on against the Detroit Pistons during the first half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- Stars for the Phoenix Suns such as Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are typically seen in positive light, though sometimes the same can't be said for fellow co-star Bradley Beal.

Beal - who was acquired via trade last summer - missed a good chunk of the 2023-24 season due to injury and struggled to sustain momentum in a new role, often handling point guard duties under prior coach Frank Vogel.

The production is expected to come back up with the arrival of starting point guard Tyus Jones, though Beal's contract is still a heavy talking point.

This season, Beal is set to make $50.2 million - which ranks fourth in the entire league for total cash and base salary.

Bleacher Report says Beal's contract will end up being one of the worst in the league after the dust settles on the 2024-25 season.

"As Beal's outside shooting attests, he's still a talented scorer. However, injuries have hampered his availability to 52 games a season over the past five years, which is difficult to overcome for a franchise given his price," wrote Eric Pincus.

"If he can give Phoenix over 75 games and help the team make a deep playoff run, never mind. However, the Suns tied up their flexibility by adding Beal to a roster with two expensive scorers (Devin Booker and Kevin Durant). Beal may be a poor use of resources on this particular team.

"It remains to be seen, but it's unclear if Beal's talents directly translate to deep postseason glory, which the Suns seem to desire most."

Under the new guidance of new coach Mike Budenholzer, we've already seen Beal flash the scorer he was during small amounts of preseason play.

His numbers were bound to dip when next to stars such as Durant and Booker, though there's reason to believe Beal can continue being an efficient player in Phoenix.

"I want to prove myself. I want to prove there’s a reason they traded for me. I want to be on the floor. But obviously, things happen," Beal told Arizona Sports at Suns Media Day.

"I get hurt, flow isn’t great — granted we did good things after December … but all in all, that joy, that energy just wasn’t there. That’s been my whole primary focus.”

If Beal can avoid injuries, there's a good chance his price tag will be far more justifiable this season.

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