Nurkic, Beal Know Days With Suns Could be Numbered

The pair of recently benched Suns have been the topic of trade discussions in recent weeks.

Dec 27, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic (20) walks off the court after being punched by Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall (not pictured) at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The last eight weeks of action have been detrimental to the sky-high title aspirations the Phoenix Suns had coming into the 2024-25 season - detrimental is putting things lightly.

The Suns sit at just 7-17 since starting the season at a blazing 9-2 mark.

Many factors can come into play here in terms of major bearers of blame - injuries, lack of strong point-of-attack defenders, and a clearly ironed out weakness when it comes to rebounding the ball.

Regardless of who one might think is the main culprit for this doomsday stretch, the coaching staff ultimately decided to send both C Jusuf Nurkic and G Bradley Beal to the bench - both had previously started every single game they had appeared in since arriving in the Valley in the summer of 2023.

Nurkic - in a candid talk with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic - acknowledged that his future could be up in the air.

“They were completely transparent that they not looking to shop us or whatever, but also, we’re not kids. We understand this is part of the job. There’s nothing you can do, at least in my situation.”

Nurkic had previously been reported to have been shopped by Phoenix by Rankin - but the contract could ultimately be easier to move in the off-season as an expiring contract.

Beal also has acknowledged the uncertain future, despite holding a no-trade clause in his case.

"If so, I need to be addressed because I hold the cards. Until I'm addressed and somebody says something different, then I'll be a Sun."

Mark Bartelstein - Beal's agent and father of Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein - made it clear that the two sides have yet to talk about the possibility of waiving the no-trade clause to facilitate a Jimmy Butler move to Phoenix.

Brian Windhorst had previously reported that the benching of Beal was specifically done to push him out the door, while Arizona Sports insider John Gambadoro stated that Beal would waive the clause for both Los Angeles franchises, Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets, and potentially more teams.

While all parties involved have said all of the right things throughout this saga, it eerily feels as if the decision to bench two staples of the rotation over the last year-plus is a signal of changes to come in the future.