Bradley Beal Says Suns Weren't on Radar After Trade Request

Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal says the Suns' aggressive push convinced him to join the Valley.

Ahead of the 2023-24 season, the Phoenix Suns are locked into win-now mode with a big three of Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, a trio that's considered to be one of the top in the NBA. 

Booker has been in Phoenix since being drafted by the organization nearly a decade ago while Durant landed in the desert at the buzzer of last year's trade deadline. 

The Suns landed Beal over the summer in a massive trade that sent Chris Paul back to Washington among other pieces swapped. 

Phoenix desperately needed another scoring option behind Booker/Durant, and they got one of the top scorers in the league when healthy. 

Beal played for the Washington Wizards for numerous years and submitted a trade request after last season in hopes of competing for a championship. 

Beal - in a diary for Andscape that will continue throughout the season - detailed why he ultimately chose Phoenix. 

"Why Phoenix? This is always a fun one for me because everyone loves to kind of speculate of what their idea was of my process with having a no-trade clause and everything. Thanks to my agent, Mark Bartelstein, for that. But, honestly, Phoenix picked me," said Beal. 

"That’s pretty much the gist of it. That’s the short term of it… Phoenix was very aggressive. I felt like I was back in college being recruited again to hear K [Durant] and Book [Booker] pretty much sign off on it and encouraging it to happen. It was definitely surreal because they were kind of a dark horse. They came out of nowhere. They definitely weren’t on my map initially until the day Mat Ishbia reached out and that kind of changed everything."

Who was on Beal's mind? The Miami Heat, who swung and missed on stars such as Beal and Damian Lillard. 

"So, my initial favorite was Miami. And so, we call Miami. [Miami president] Pat [Riley] says well I’ll go talk to [owner] Micky [Arison] and figure it out. So he goes, talks to Micky, we go, we hear back [New York] 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."

Beal says he and his family have adjusted well to the desert heat:

"I would say my family loves Phoenix. My boys love it because it’s hot every day. They get to swim every day, so they are great. My wife loves it for the same reasons. It’s hot and it is growing on me. I’m used to the very fast city of D.C. and traffic all the time and it’s kind of like a complete opposite side of the spectrum," said Beal. 

"Being here in Phoenix, I’m closer to the practice facility relatively in distance, so it’s an adjustment for me. But I’m definitely embracing it all with open arms and it has been a fun journey for sure so far. I love the heat. I’m a summer baby, so I’d rather be hot than be cold all day every day."

Temperatures and expectations are certainly going to be high next June, where many anticipate the Suns to be competing for the NBA Finals. 

You don't have to remind Beal of that.

"I’m crazy. I’m naive. I’ll always feel like I can win a championship at the beginning of every year. But this is the first time I can say in my career I legitimately feel like to start the year I have a legit chance of competing for a championship. I know that I have an opportunity to compete every night for a championship before we even throw the ball up in the air," said Beal.

"It’s humbling, it’s motivating, definitely motivating. I’m always sitting on the couch watching [playoff] games. So now I’m definitely excited that I hopefully get playoff basketball again and above and beyond. To know that our goal is a championship — it’s not first round, second round, it’s not make the playoffs, it’s not make the play-in. No, we want to hold up to Larry [O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy] at the end of the year and that definitely changes your mental for sure.

"To put on a Suns jersey for the first time, the purple and orange, it was amazing. It was exciting for me. I definitely felt a little weird initially being so used to red, white and blue. But purple and orange looks amazing. Suns fans, it’s going to be a fun year. I’m beyond committed to this team, this organization in helping any way I can and this team sees fit, and I’m blessed to be in this position. I will never take it for granted — I’ll be a hard worker, great community guy — just knowing that we’re playing to win every single night.”

The Suns have their first opportunity against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 24.