If the Phoenix Suns move on from Kevin Durant, trading Bradley Beal at all costs should be their next move to re-tool around Devin Booker.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale proposed two trades that will achieve that and give Suns’ new general manager Brian Gregory a blank canvas to shape a Booker-led roster to his liking.
After proposing to send Durant to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and get their picks back, Favale made a second trade proposal in conjunction to that.
Here is Dan Favale’s second trade proposal:
Phoenix Suns Receive: Damian Lillard, Milwaukee’s 2031 first-round pick, Milwaukee’s 2031 second-round pick
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Bradley Beal (no-trade clause)
Utah Jazz Receive: Chris Livingston, 2026 second-round pick (less favorable of Denver and Golden State, via Phoenix)
“Trading for Lillard when he may not play next season after suffering a torn left Achilles wouldn’t help the Suns compete in 2025-26. That’s the point.
“After regaining control of their 2026 first-rounder (and 2027 first) in the previous deal, they could treat next season as a gap year. Then, in this hypothetical scenario, they would enter 2026-27 with a core of Booker, Lillard on an expiring contract, Jabari Smith Jr., whoever they take at No. 10 this June and another higher first-round pick. They would also have their own 2027 first-rounder, as well as the Bucks’ in 2031. What the Suns do from there is up to them,” Favale wrote.
These are solid arguments for the Suns to make these trades after their Big 3 experiment exploded in their face over the last two seasons.
‘Zero Percent Chance’ Bradley Beal Returns to Phoenix
Among their three stars, Beal is the weakest link. That’s why they tried to trade him to acquire Jimmy Butler, to no avail this season. Beal’s pricy two years and $111 million remaining in his five-year, $251 million contract have not attracted a market given his age and injury history.
Despite these factors negatively affecting his market, John Gambodoro, the longtime Sports Radio Talk Show host of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix, said “that there’s a zero percent chance that Bradley Beal comes back” to the Suns next season.
“And I truly believe that, you know me, if I go out on a limb, on something I’m probably doing it for a reason,” Gambodoro said on the “Burns and Gambo” show on April 13. “I don’t see a scenario in which Bradley Beal can come back.”
If Beal has no trade market, Gambodoro sees another path for the Suns to get rid of their third star.
“I don’t believe you could trade [Beal],” Gambodoro added. “I think you go to the offseason and you try before to agree to any type of buyout or anything like that.”
Mat Ishbia Will ‘Never’ Trade Devin Booker
Suns owner Mat Ishbia clearly said Booker is untouchable.
“Never happen,” Ishbia told ESPN on Booker getting traded. “It’s silly. So here’s what I’ll tell you: I have Devin Booker in the prime. In order to win an NBA championship, you got to have a superstar. You got to have a great player.”
Despite the Suns’ shortcomings since Booker led them to the 2021 NBA Finals, the 28-year-old guard remains “10 toes down in Phoenix,” according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
In the same Hoop Collective podcast episode on May 5, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that Booker is “willing” to sign a two-year max extension worth $149.8 million with the Suns.
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