Could Phoenix Suns Offload Bradley Beal? Plus a Final KD Farewell & Takes on Two Big Prospects

today on Locked on Phoenix Suns a lot of the optimism if you have it about the Kevin Durant trade has to come down to not having Bradley Beal on the team maximizing Jaylen Green being competitive next season clearing this the capbooks all of it so can the Suns actually pull it off let’s go you are Locked On Suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day welcome back into Locked On Phoenix Suns i’m Brendan Clean a staff writer at Off Announcing and a credentialed Suns Media member thank you for making Locked Ons your first listen here on this Tuesday don’t forget Lockdown Suns free and available on all platforms including YouTube click that follow or subscribe button do what thousands of other Suns fans have already done become an everydayer get locked on to the Phoenix Suns right here each and every day today’s episode brought to you by the FanDuel sports book right now new customers can bet $150 get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins get to one last farewell segment to Kevin Durant in two draft breakdowns but first Bradley Beal joining me to break it down as always from the Wild West Valley my fellow Suns Credential media member how are we feeling Ben Garcia uh I’ve turned from this news is terrible to bitter so I don’t know what the um like five stages of grief are but maybe I’m in bargaining because of the Kevin Durant stuff like we’re all done and and doesn’t seem like we got the best thing for it so uh I’ll let you know when I reach acceptance i’ve been very surprised to see like there was a a Twitter poll from uh Burns and Gambo there was uh the ESPN trade grade gave him a B the Burns and Gambo poll 60% of people were were okay with the trade i was uh I don’t I’m surprised i don’t think it’s the worst the Suns could have done by any means and it fit my scale as I’ve said a million times but it uh it I thought it would be more disappointing to people but maybe we’re on the out outside looking in here but let’s get to the first domino to fall outside of taking a player at 10 of course which we’ll get to to close the show but Bradley Beal I think is the next order of business for this team Ben and if you’re making any sort of case for how Jaylen Green can stay on this team next season and develop his game help this team win games and you know behind the scenes under the radar maybe up his trade value eventually it starts and stops with Bradley Beal being out of the way as unfortunate as as that is for him because the trade the the guard room if you want to call it that is just too clogged up right Now it’s crowded and it’s Yeah sorry continue i was just going to say it’s crowded and it and it kind of reminds me of years ago when the Suns had a bunch of wings and it was male and Cam and Josh Jackson and DJ Warren and it was like they have a bunch of these wings but we’re not really sure any of them are really good like we know Booker’s really good we know Male at that point was really good but Cam was still raw tj Warren we’re not really sure if he’s just a buckets guy josh Jackson he fell flat on his face and so with this shooting guard room it’s Beal who’s I’m I mean I don’t even I you can’t even say he is what he is anymore i think he’s just a negative asset uh Jaylen Green I’m willing to say we’re not sure yet i guess maybe he could find a different realm that maybe he can be this next level guy but it’s clear it’s too crowded man any team that shows any sense of competitive or wants to be taken seriously next year cannot have a rotation of Allen Beal Booker and uh Jaylen Green it’s just not going to fit yeah I think I think we all are on the same page and it’s the it’s the final ingredient of the trade that we didn’t get to yesterday because it’s the smallest but the Suns got five second round picks and I don’t know what the negotiations looked like i would rather just have Cam Whitmore and keep Bradley Beal or whatever if I’m being honest although I guess if they got green it wouldn’t have made a ton of sense to get Whitmore too whatever but if you told me the seconds were part of a of a master plan to get off of Bradley Beal’s contract I suppose I could I could see that um it’d be sure nice to not have to give up a first round pick in order to do that let alone multiple but I just been don’t see it almost to me like so Gambo’s reporting that that they’re going to move on from him we’ll we’ll get to the destinations as far as a mid-level for him could go to make that happen from a cutting standpoint as far as a trade though it almost just sort of feels like we’re talking ourselves in circles and we’re like “Ah we haven’t done that news cycle in a while let’s drum up the optimism about a bee trade again.” Um because I just I I still nothing’s changed i still look around the league like I did in December like I did in April like I can do right now in June i don’t see anyone that would be in any hurry to take him or his money uh forget him well the much bigger obstacle is his money i don’t dude I don’t like coming on here and being doom and gloom and you know peeing all over the the uh uh the aspirations of Suns fans but like I even see last night and listen it’s not a shot on anyone but like Flex is saying on PHNX Suns last night he’s like “There’s a reason they got five second round picks instead of one first round pick.” I’m like wouldn’t it be easier to move be if you gave someone a first round pick instead of five seconds well I don’t know about that because I think that there’s something to be said that the first would almost be too valuable and you wouldn’t want to it’s stupid you I would rather just take a first and keep Beal if I’m being 100% honest that would be my preference but if you’re talking about trading him I guess I can understand that perspective that if you get a you know I mean Houston only has so many firsts a lot of them are pretty good first because they’ve done a lot of smart trades if you get one of those you don’t want to give that up for Bradley Beal so maybe the seconds make more sense there but it all comes back to what’s the freaking trade well I I don’t know how much of this you did today um sounds like you were pretty busy but I was on spot track and if you like you want to say like oh the Nets would love Bradley Beal and he would love to go to Brooklyn like every like you keep forgetting not you but he also has to say yes to the trade everyone is saying Bradley Beal is not going to be here next year have they ran that by Bradley Beal have they told Bradley Beal “We do not want you here.” way more directly than maybe they told Kevin Durant that we don’t want you here so I looked at a bunch of different teams man the Bulls the Hornets like all these teams that you would think would take draft capital back because they’re not close to competing in in exchange for Bradley Beal’s contract no one has the assets and when I say assets I mean the money outside of maybe the Wizards and not even the Hornets even really but like the Wizards are you willing to take Marcus Smart and I think it’s Chris Middleton back in a deal for for for Bradley Beal but then you have some of the same issues of like it’s too much redundancy of what you already have what was the it was Jordan Pool and Marcus Smart okay you want to bring back a two more small guards to this team like I don’t see a world where you find a destination for Bradley Beal that makes sense that isn’t you super overpaying just to not have him on your roster i I honestly frankly don’t don’t even care pool would probably be a bridge too far but I think you can do that trade with Middleton um as well yeah but I mean we don’t know what the Suns cap situation or the Wizards cap situation is going to look like by the time that they could orchestrate a trade like this so there’s a world where the Suns could just bring back a little more than Beal makes if they’re under the first apron if if they somehow you know whatever so they did they dumped Grayson Allen in a trade and now all of a sudden they got even more wiggle room things like that i think it’s close enough i could see it happening that’s a good point to me though I Yeah if you could do M Martin Middleton and you had to give up a first round pick even one of the ones like 2027 the Cavs Utah pick that they have for instance or their own 2028 uh I they they have some kind of way that they can do something with that I believe um or even the 2029 Cleveland Utah pick i I would just do it no matter what you’re getting back i don’t even care i cut both of the players at that point i mean it’s it’s about those you know Middleton and Smart for instance have dead h have uh no money after this season um I thought of something like CJ McCullum and some other money from the Pelicans could be one right but that that’s hard to get to i mean Kelly Ool gets you to 43 million i don’t I I didn’t run that one through you know anything close to you know seeing if it would actually work but that doesn’t get you all the way to exact money and at that point you’re starting to get to hold on why would the Pel That’s like some decent players you know what I mean yeah mccome’s a McCome’s a fine player i mean he’s not what he used to be but he’s fine yeah exactly so those are two those are two expiring players so yeah I just whether they use the seconds whether they use first I just like Ben why would the conversation be different than it was all season when we were talking about this and and you’re right to obviously always have to come back to the no trade clause um so I I unless you have another trade spot or anything like that I think that the other thing to bring up is the other conversation we’ve basically been having since he uh in my opinion got pretty close to quitting on the team i don’t know his intentions so I’m not going to try to say that he he did it anything like that but he definitely stopped giving his all and started giving some pretty poor answers publicly and the the place we went then was like hey could he sign somewhere on a on a mid-level type contract get some wiggle room to give some money back to the Suns in a buyout whether that’s just a two-year buyout or whether that’s a stretch you know they’d be have to give a lot more money back to do the two-year version and I don’t even know necessarily where that is like you said the money is the main problem i’m you know multiple seasons of a mid-level exception starts to get you into the territory of 30 40 million guaranteed dollars to this guy and I just think from a health standpoint even a even a team that just wants some scoring that’s a that I don’t know i think you could probably do better elsewhere we’re trying to set reasonable expectations but Brendan go through the teams i I saw someone be like “Well could you facilitate Drew Holiday to the to the Suns?” Like the Celtics are trying to cut money not gain money and you’re looking through some of these teams i mean even like the Hornets man they got LaMelo Ball the Orlando Magic just traded for Desmond Bane and like they’ve got guys over there that that can play the one spot the Clippers like the Pelicans i don’t see the landing spot so unless the Suns everyone is alluding to and I I would lump gambo into this and flex and other people is just like everyone is making it seem like the Suns are playing 5D chess right now and no one knows where their next move is coming from and they’ve got someone just ready to to pull the rug out from under him and and fleece him in a Bradley Beal deal if they have it I don’t see it man i don’t see what team out there i’ve seen people say if the Suns were able to buy out Bradley Beiel they’d be interested in him in terms of like I’ve seen like Lakers fans maybe throw that out there but like it’s gets really sophisticated then he has to take a pay cut to get out of here it’s just too tough man they Yeah he the idea of the Suns just buy him out and he goes to a team on the minimum is literally not possible or an option so they can keep It’s not It’s not happening it’s not happening it’s not legal they can’t buy him out for his full salary that’s why we keep talking about he has to get at least a mid-level from another team give that much money back otherwise the Suns are not legally allowed to have as much dead money on their books as they would if they paid him his full salary that’s the whole thing so it’s not possible um Tim Hardaway Jr D’Angelo Russell Carris Levert Dennis Shruder these are all guys who are also just free agents this summer that I could see teams nquil Alexander Walker I could go on like those guys all would be at least close to or more appealing to me depending on what team I am than Bradley Beal just because they’re going to play you know what I mean so um I I I’m still really skeptical there’s enough smoke here that I tend to believe that it’s going to happen in some way shape or form but um can I ask you one more question it’s going to be a borderline miracle to even to to get him off this team no matter how they try to do it would you trade Beal i’m I’m I’m If you can get rid of Beiel for five second round picks and cut up his money anywhere like I don’t care where it comes from agreed marcus Smart Middleton I don’t care would you do it for a first round pick because I’m going to be honest with you dude because the Suns aren’t contenders next year and because maybe you just sit him on the bench and I’m not fond of the rotation either but I’d rather keep the pick than just move him because I want to have swings at the Batman even if it’s a late round pick i don’t want to just get rid of Beal just to get rid of him like it’s not worth it to me is it worth it to you you and I were on the same page until recently like I said we’ve just we’ve gone through so many permutations of this this this deal at this point that I’m like what you know but the Green acquisition if they really are going to keep him I don’t know how you can keep Eel you’re just asking for problems you have three dudes who play the exact same position and they’re the three most highly paid players on your It’s It’s like the exact same thing we’ve been saying with Durant Booker and Beal except even less of a good fit so I I don’t I don’t know i That would give me more urgency to get Beal off the team but I agree with you that they’re going to regret if they have to overspend to get it done unless unless they’re prepared to lose other guys but anyways continue yeah well overspend whatever if it’s a player if it’s picks whatever i I I think you could easily end up in a situation where you regret the deal you end up doing there’s been some Kevin Durant aftermath and while he’s not a member of the Phoenix Suns anymore it definitely impacts the way we’re going to look at this team in the recent past and the recent future or the near future so let’s round those up and bid one last farewell to 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for the next thing I want to buy if it’s all locked away in some fake account somewhere that’s supposed to be acrewing money allegedly i don’t know but Monarch Money knows so take control of your finances today with Monarch Money use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year that’s monarchmoney.com code lockdown NBA for half off your first year all right let’s keep it rolling there have been a couple of different viral headlines about Kevin Durant in the aftermath of the trade Ben that I think we should hit on here uh as sort of the last conversation I think we’ll have from this whole KD sweep stakes that has eaten up the summer the first was KD who we mentioned in our live reaction show on Sunday afternoon was on stage at Fanatics Fest when this trade went down which was unusual for sure he was asked by K Adams in a little uh you know phone video post on social media at the festival uh what his message would be to disappointed Suns fans and he had a hard to parse answer the question was about fans the viral tweet that went around framed it as if he was talking about fans his words said “They wanted me gone.” I I don’t know we’ll never know i don’t think you know he’s going to ever clarify because it’s not super important at the end of the day I guess to him what he what to what he said and he probably was caught off guard by it but let’s start there and then we’ll get into more of the you know team building stuff aspect of this uh aftermath here Ben but I I don’t think it’s inaccurate if he was talking about the front office to say that from his standpoint he’s gone because they wanted him gone um agreed with you but I’m not taking that angle i think he was talking about fans um she pointed to a fan she asked about the fans i get what you’re trying to say that maybe and you’re right if he was talking about the front office you’re right they literally wanted him gone they tried to do it behind his back and that is all fair but I thought it was incredibly low if that was after fans and I’ll add the if i thought it was incredibly low because I would say most Suns fans wanted Kevin Durant here especially after they heard some of the trade packages they wish they could just run it out with him and what I took from it was I’m so bleeping sensitive that I read everything online and that 100% of it wasn’t pro Kevin Durant that I’m going to take it as all the fans don’t want me here dude and this fan base that so desperately wants to win all they ever asked was to win they supported him they threw an effing I’m I’m sure you were there an effing pep rally for the guy when he showed out he said he set the standard he said because he’s one of the best basketball players of all time he mentioned that at his pep at his pep rally press conference i don’t think he lived up to his end of the bargain i don’t think the Suns lives up to their end of the bargain um and I thought it was low to have the appearance of to go after fans like dude just go to Houston you got your thing go to Houston and I thought it was low and I I just to go after and like the I would ask you this do you think he could have been talking to fans and still reference it being the front office just to play devil’s advocate because I don’t I don’t want to just make a decision on what another person was saying and then run away with the take because we want to like get our thoughts on off on him so I can we at least agree we don’t know what he meant no I think he was talking about how do you know what he meant he can’t K adams asked him about the fans she pointed to a fan and his message could have been to the fans and saying the the the word they is the whole thing that this hinges on they meaning the people you just asked about in your question or they meaning the people who I’m thinking in my head when I say the word they and I’m thinking of the front office i’m just we we like so that that’s all I’m saying we we don’t know i agree with what you’re saying if it was about the fans i don’t think it’s fair at all to also that’s just not it’s such a broad strokes we do a podcast every day i don’t think either you and I would ever try to say we know what every fan thinks or try to even imagine a world where all the fans even agree on anything so if that’s what he meant I I would really hope he would have some more perspective than to take a shot like that and so quickly forget the way that he was embraced and the good moments even though they were few and far between that that they did have here that he did have here but I’m just saying that I don’t know and if he’s And a part of the reason I would I would give some credence to the idea that he was talking about the front office is because like I said at the beginning I happen to 100% agree that the whole main reason that it got here in a lot of is because they tried to trade him behind his back and that’s why the value got so crappy which we’re about to talk about and that’s a lot of why I think the relationship deteriorated and that’s why the season went south a lot of things can be traced back to Matt Ishbia calling up the Warriors and the Wolves and the Heat in February and pissing off Katie and Rich Kimman royally sure um I’m willing to listen to the they whatever but you know man there was this kind of this topic of Kevin Durant’s departure and I want to ask you this because you’re the old school media guy but it kind of made its rounds do you think the media that was so unfair to Kevin and one thing I’ve learned while cut watching Kevin here is nothing is ever his fault um it’s always someone else’s but do you think the media and fan and the fan base had anything to do with Kevin Durant not wanting to be here anymore uh Kevin Durant did not ask for a trade this summer so I don’t I don’t really think that the premise of the question is necessarily right not to I’m not I’m not trying to be difficult but I just think it’s important to frame it right he didn’t ask to to be traded that’s kind of part back to the K adams thing so I don’t think that the media or the fans or any of the backlash or criticism or talk online is part of why we’re in the situation that we’re in we’re in the situation we’re in is because they fell on their face for two straight seasons mhm but I also don’t think that no matter what you feel about the trade or KD’s comments or any part of the era of KD being here it is important to remember he never asked out and and I don’t know if he would have in a ideal world now he wasn’t going to compete for a championship so I think he obviously accepted the trade had his list and controlled the proceedings pretty aggressively so I’m not saying he had no hand in it but he didn’t force his way out of here so I even then it’s like well who is it really anybody’s fault it’s almost like it’s just all the players fault at that point i would lean Listen I’m no just the answer is no fan bases and media don’t have anything to do with players departure in any way shape or form if they do that is incredibly soft and an indictment of the player i would just say and of the front office who sends them out i I would just say as a as a like last farewell to KD I was really excited to watch him play with another team and root for him i was really rooting for the Heat Easter garments team but even the Rockets I’m just going to be impartial i I I don’t really care anymore i like sure I wish him the success but I’m not going to root for it from the sidelines i’m just going to be impartial and indifferent because of the way I believe he’s handled yesterday up until today i do believe has been a middle finger to Suns fans and I think it’s honestly been a little bit of a middle finger to Devin Booker to some extent if some of the other reporting is true that he was making it tougher so I’m just going to be indifferent wish him well and uh how much do you think last last thing there do you think it affected this whole situation if Brian Winhor’s you know reporting is to be believed that KD lowered the price down by rejecting trades and everything else how do you think that that actually ultimately affected what they got because we’re hearing in in the in the days and hours since it’s it’s almost like oh you know the Spurs basically never even made an offer The Heat wouldn’t forget KL Wear they wouldn’t even include Nicole Yoic uh in the trade it was like Hakez and maybe a pick if you really pull our you know twist our our arms like we’ll get you one type thing so I I guess you could look at that and say it’s because of Durant but I also just don’t know if the offers were ever out there to be honest yes to the whole thing i don’t think the offers were really there and I think Kevin Durant made it difficult not as difficult as I think win horses may be m saying it to be which is why I think gamble kind of shut it down a little bit but I don’t think the offers were really there for them to really have any other avenues that Katie would shut down like maybe KD shut down a Minnesota Timberwolves trade but maybe it was Rudy Gobear and a pick and like I don’t know Terrence Shannon or whatever like I don’t think it’s gonna be great I I don’t think it was ever that great for KD just to knock him down I think he just played a role in it though um good luck to Katie man good luck to KD but whatever whatever i’m I’m so I’m I’m I I Are you relieved it’s over because I’m relieved it’s over i wish it would have went differently but I I’m I’m relieved that it’s done uh sure for now uh I’d like for them to not completely continue to crap all over themselves like they have for three years so they were doing that with Yeah well agreed but I don’t care if KD’s gone if that continues that’s the part I’d like to be over not Kevin Durant being here i’d agree i’d agree i uh I just I’m I’m done with Dude he’s still going after media members and he’s on a different team now he’s still going after Phoenix media members and he’s on a different team like God dude just go go out the door we broke up it’s done stop sending another text message you don’t need to get the final word you got your way he still talks to Nets people it’s not going to end he’s not going to stop he he comments about the Warriors stuff he goes on Draymond’s pod and you know has his has his word i I think it’s just how it is but let’s get to our draft breakdowns of the day two big men that the Suns could go after on Wednesday night next first today’s show brought to you by Open Phone that’s right if you’re running a business you know that every mis call is money left on the table think about the last time you had an urgent need maybe a plumber or a service provider or me who’s waiting on my refrigerator to be checked out and we’re not getting any ice i know it’s a very uh big huge problem but it obviously gets frustrating when you keep running into a waiting signal or voicemail and you’re jumping around because you 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game even more exciting you’re already following the action why not make it a little more thrilling and with FanDuel you can do just that getting in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach let’s see hit the he just hit the favorites on the WNBA i almost don’t even need to read it off for you because that is about the shest big odds that you’re going to find this time of year we got on Wednesday night the Las Vegas Aces minus 1,800 against the Connecticut Sun if you’re new to FanDuel new customers can bet just five bucks on a heavy favorite like that and get 150 in bonus bet straight to your account if that bet wins so open the FanDuel app today visit fanduel.com/lockedon to get started all right Ben two big men to talk about here thomas Sorber from Georgetown Derek Queen from Maryland which did you like more let’s start with that guy um I think I like Derrick Queen a little bit more uh I really liked now listen neither of these guys are shooters i think Derrick Queen attempted 35 of them in his time at Maryland i don’t I think it’s kind of close uh between which guy you like more but he’s I’m not going to I’m not so sure if he’s going to be a five or a four in the NBA he’s 610 but he’s kind of a smaller 610 he kind of reminds me of a well put together Oso Igodaro like if Oso could get to the rim at will you could tell he’s t he’s pretty talented good passer um footwork is good defensively I thought he was again kind of kind of be he’s kind of tiny but he’s really coordinated um what did you think of him i think that Queen is one of the bigger boom bust guys in the entire draft yeah that’s exactly what I thought i And so that’s why from a Sun standpoint like I hate to think of it this way because typically I just want every team to take the player that they think is best and and usually that works out but in this particular case I I was tweeting with Sam Cooper of the timeline earlier today and I put it that I am back to kind of that that 2010’s mindset right now in the draft where I need Sunsroof players like they need to be able to rise above the BS that’s going on around here right now and develop and and hit and focus in spite of all of the noise and the nonsense and so if you’re talking about Bradley Beal on the team frustrated and Jaylen Green’s trying to develop and a new system and a firsttime head coach and a bunch of young guys and Booker noise around oh is he going to every day on first take there’s all that stuff like Derek Queen’s not the kind of player that I necessarily want to bring into that situation because I think he really needs the right environment there’s been rumors and and reports about is he in great shape is he super focused during the pre-draft stuff not to mention he’s already a pretty raw player in the first place so he he could be you know I I’ve seen him compared to Nas Reed i’ve seen him compared to Alvin Shenun on like the high end he could be that that’d be awesome of course I would take that on the Suns but he also could be out of the league in in five years because some of these guys just don’t pan out and he’s not an elite athlete so that’s where I’m at and I don’t know if the Suns can afford to take a guy like that right now 75 uh of his points came at the rim he again I I Nas Reed and Alprren Shenun I don’t think is like again highend but I don’t think this guy works with the Suns because they want to get a stretch five stretch four on this team they don’t have that which is also kind of the same thing with Thomas Sorber what I kind of worry about is if the Suns are truly going after this stretch five stretch four open up things around the rim for Devin Booker but probably mostly Jaylen Green i don’t see him particularly Derek Queen working because yes maybe he does develop that but he hasn’t shown at least the college level that he has a consistent jumper in fact it’s Yeah I don’t think either of these guys are going to be shooters right now you know and so Queen more I think Queen more than Sorber could be but I’d agree that probably But Sorber actually took more per game than Queen did i know i know but yeah I just think both guys it’s like it’s something they’re going to like Mitchell Robinson shot some threes in college you know great okay that didn’t turn into anything so I think to me it they’re both you know interior players i think the thing about Queen is he probably can create his own shot at his at a high-end ceiling outcome for him whereas Sorber cannot you know he’s going to be a rim rolling type of player um but yeah I I think to maybe pivot to Sorber a little bit he has great hands he is a better athlete vertically he’s more explosive than Queen is he has a He’s only 69 610 similar to Queen but he has a monster wingspan so he probably could play center more easily the game that I was watching through that was on YouTube of his he was he was defending a much bigger veteran upper classman at Syracuse in the post and he was handling himself despite being a freshman he’s a good rebounder he he’s really you know seems to play a lot harder motor runs a little higher things like that so that to me is again it just feels like a more reliable thing to bank on given where the Suns are at right now and I think frankly somebody who could maybe contribute like what Eve Mei did for New Orleans this year it’s not like he was making the highlight reel on on Twitter every night but Mei played minutes on a on a real NBA team the Suns hopefully can be better than New Orleans was this past year but you know I think that Sorber could do that i’m not sure Queen can i think Queen’s going to be a project i like I like Queen more uh in terms of a player because I do I would agree with you as well i think his ceiling is much higher but he’s a really tough player to evaluate um Sorber again more of the sure thing he’s a better defender than Queen i think he has a 76 wingspan i think that’s what you were talking about before so he’s probably going to play the five um good passer but he’s kind of a I the reason why I’m not thrilled about either one although if we’re going to pick one I’d probably take Sorber because of the uh more sure thing they just don’t do anything really differently than what the Suns already have on their roster so if they had to go here fine but I just Yeah but the thing with the spacing like I I don’t you can’t like It’s already one thing to draft for fit positionally you can’t afford to be like “Well we we need a center but we’d really like if he could space okay well great there’s no spacing bigs available at 10.” Mhm well then it might tell you exists well I I think it might tell you then well Maxine Relo I mean that is one not going to get no they’re not going to but that is my point I was trying to say maybe if you’re a maybe this as we go through these two you see that this maybe isn’t the archetype or prototype or prototypical center that the Suns want for this version of the NBA maybe this tells you because of the worries of Derrick Queen and his ability to maybe boom or bust and Thomas Sorber his very maybe old school type of NBA that they’re going to go a different position maybe a forward a 3 and D guy like I mean old school NBA is like uh you know Al Jefferson there’s plenty of guys like Sorber or a guy we haven’t talked about Malawak who’s you know probably just like a better archetype of what Sorber is who still play big minutes i mean we were all we you and I were fawning over in the early stages of the KD stuff like before the flag lottery happened we’re like well what if what if Dallas gave gave the Suns Lively or Gaffford for in a KD trade that’d be awesome well that’s what Sorber is so I think that you know those guys succeed for sure and I could see it working here i agree the Suns need a floor spacing center out of this off seasonason some type of way it’d be nice to get it in the draft and have it long term but you know we’ve also talked about guys maybe with the taxpayer MLE they go get Al Horford if he leaves Boston or they go get you know who who worked with Jordan not 10 years ago maybe that’s their their option at that spot or something like that i I I don’t think they have to do it in the draft and I wouldn’t hate bringing a guy like Sorber in as one of your rotation pieces now you’re right though like does that like do you just try to dump Nick Richards at that point like what what that that would be interesting i don’t know what they would do there sorber who would you comp this guy to it feels like Lively is a stretch no I mean yeah he’s not he’s not as tall as Lively he’s not as agile with the ball as as Lively is i mean I don’t know throw throw any of the Gaffford i just said Gaffford throw uh who the backup uh I don’t I don’t know i’m looking I’m just looking at the standings indiana Pacers their backup center Isaiah Jackson uh Jaylen Duran from Detroit um Jaylen Duran’s a good one on down the line any any of Clink Capella Aneka Kongwoo and it I had Yeah I had I had Clink Capella i had Clink Capella on my list on here too but I thought maybe that was a little too but And Clabell is a little bit under size then Clabella is 69 i I don’t know man neither of these guys like when you when you talk about the 10 pick on its own yes man maybe one of these guys sure fits the mold but I’m also in my own mind which is probably the wrong thing is like I’m trying to win the trade a little bit more too because when you talk about a deal of of who the hell did they get back jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks and Thomas Sorber and you talk about his ceiling i understand his floor might be kind of high but I’m looking for that happy medium of like might break out but probably likely here but also his floor isn’t going to fall through the through the basement so that’s what I I agree if they took Sorbra I wouldn’t come on here on draft night and be you know crying i wouldn’t be upset i wouldn’t be upset either cuz I get the fit and I get what you said before the Suns need some consistency at the center spot so I get it i just looking for a little bit more and I I can’t get super excited about it no there will be more guys we’ve we’ve already talked about and who we will talk about I guess tomorrow that I think are a little more exciting definitely let’s close it there hit follow subscribe if you have not already become an everyday the draft is just around the corner and there will be more fireworks to be sure from the Sun’s personnel enjoy your Tuesday we’ll catch you tomorrow

The Phoenix Suns are under even more pressure to trade Bradley Beal after acquiring Jalen Green this week. Can they actually do it?

Brendon Kleen and Ben Garcia discuss the latest noise around Beal before wrapping up the final reporting on the Kevin Durant trade. Then, a look at NBA Draft prospects Derik Queen and Thomas Sorber.

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40 comments
  1. we aren't more upset because the trade return wasn't awful. Idk of you guys realize this but KD is 37! We went 36-46 with KD! we weren't getting what we paid for him. We got the 10th pick!! No we didn't get a player that we universally love but he got a young athletic player who, even though i don't love him, has immense potential and can grow. Not a bad return at all. (B)

  2. Based on what i read you can stretch the buy out cap hit. If he agrees to be bought out for let's say 60-90 million is that really an issue for the suns?

    Im sure beal is willing to be bought out out if it mean he gets paid around 60-70 million of his reaming salary.
    The other 50-40 million will be picked up by another team

    I think around 30-20 million is fair market value where he and most teams would want him for what he is at this moment.

    I really don't see why beal wouldn't want that. Hey gets to get paid and potentially earn more long term and he gets to play winning basketball for a twam he wants to play with and s team that wants him.

  3. If by some miracle we can trade Beal back to the Wizards and trade for Nic Claxton without giving up the 10th pick, out team could look like this:
    Starters: Booker, Green, Brooks, Yabusele (free agent), Claxton
    2nd Unit: Smart, Poole, Dunn, Carter Bryant, Richards, and add CP3, Westbrook or Gillespie plus Ighodaro if you don't trade him.
    That could be a fun team to watch.

  4. Ben is mad at KD 😂😂

    KD was referring to the FO.

    Ben said “KD didn’t live up to his end of the bargain” … Which is a lie.

    They tried to trade the guy behind his back.

  5. In less than 5 years The Phoenix Suns have gone from the darlings of the NBA full to the brim with moxie to a complete and utter laughing stock. Players WANTED to be here. Now? Not so much.
    How did we get here?
    I'm not going to make a list of the players and coaches we have shit all over in the last 5 years alone. You all know that list.
    But think about Rubio, leading the team through the gauntlet of the bubble to and 8-0 record. Its where our moxie started. How did we repay him? He was gutted when he found out. That's not a good look.
    They dropped Rubio so quick some fans remember CP3 leading us through the bubble.
    sad

  6. guy in greenshirt has the shttiest takes. just take a quick look at comments section and you can easily see lots of suns fans are blaming KD for suns downfall. like be fr bro. yall deserve that. toxic fans have been so brutal to KD for so long. he deserved to give back that attitude stfu guy

  7. Suns tryna trade him behind his back, guys like Gambo and Book Stans…..of course KD wanted to leave… Dummies could never acknowledge the duplicity at the two spot along with lack of a starting level pg being main reasons Suns underachieved

  8. lol wat did u think u was going to get ben ? lol it sucks that the best player they got is a shooting guard but outside of that I think they did good they could always trade him for a different position player.

  9. It was the best offer. Ben! I think the Sun's got excellent value for a 37-year-old injury prone. Kevin Durant.37 yr old KD had little value, and KD tanked what little he had.

  10. The Suns were already bad when they tried to trade KD.
    There has been a bad mojo ever since Kevin Durant came to town. I am glad that he's gone! 🎉

  11. Thank Brendon way more objective about the KD situation. You got Ben trying to lie on KD because he wants to believe whatever negative about KD. It’s so clear Ben doesn’t like KD. Media clearly and a lot of fans hated on KD. Don’t lie Ben be real. Now saying he didn’t care about Booker. They are friends all this dude do is lie and speculate

  12. If Beal really wants to play and you tell him he will be on the bench all season and not play I would imagine he would want to go somewhere else.

  13. Stop your naivety. Bradley will not want to come off the bench. He believes he is still a star and has a legacy. He will not block any trade. Wizards fanbase still love him. Who knows. I think we will be surprised.

  14. nobody wants beal as a suns fan can we stop assuming his going to stay we don't want him in and out of lineup that man cannot stay in the court always hurt his attitude sucks and its contagious get him out asap please

  15. Fans treated KD like sh*t💯 Ben this is the furthest thing from the truth but I will say I watched to interview he was definitely talking about the front office either way they continued the booker nonsense no matter how much KD gave us💯 the amount of shit KD took from the media and then the team tried to trade him he deserves to say whatever the hell he wants about the fans and/or front office.

  16. The suns didn't owe him nothing we literally gave EVERYTHING for him & 0 results. They should of traded him before the trade deadline forget this dude idc you don't want to be traded to that team or this team you'll get over it. Its the Owners fault as we all know.

  17. Just glad he's gone. Both of you made points I agree with. KD being out means nothing if the front office keeps showing ineptitude. Also KD is too beta and immature to be the focal point of anyone's team. He has to be an add-on only.

  18. Bickley Blast was the poster child for wanting KD gone, remember when they went back and forth over twitter with him because he said Book is playing bad because of KD , also they tried to trade him behind his back so yeah he had a right to say what he said because of the organization. The suns didnt do a good job putting a team around Book and KD so they get most of the blame.

  19. 🤣 stop it !! Suns media , some suns fans & management push KD away. Ben is just mad because KD said was true 🤷🏻‍♂️ KD was done dirty by suns

  20. you don't have to have a meeting with beal to tell him we dont' want him he should already know that, thats a fact nobody wants beal back even if they pay him not to play just get him off the team so they can develop other players

  21. Oh my goodness someone get Ben a coke and a smile. Bro is being so extra. They got a 23 year old freak athlete and former top 2 pick, a solid 3 and D wing, and a top 10 pick for a 37 year old vet who was redundant with Book’s midrange game. This team didn’t even make the play-in WITH KD. At minimum you should be happy that they are moving in a different direction.

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