The Phoenix Suns WILL Buyout Bradley Beal, Is It The SMART Move Or The EASY Move? | Ben Garcia Show

The Phoenix Suns WILL Buyout Bradley Beal, Is It The SMART Move Or The EASY Move? | Ben Garcia Show

What is up, guys? Welcome into yet another edition of the Ben Garcia Show with my guy John Voya here of Bright Side of the Sun. He’s also got a Suns Jam Session podcast where he’s talking all things Phoenix Suns. And today we’re not necessarily talking all things Phoenix Suns. We’re talking Bradley Beal. Will they? Won’t they send him home? Some people already just want the guy gone. If you’re me, you’re kind of like, let’s let’s talk this one over. And that’s why I decided to do so. my god, John Voit. Before I do, don’t forget to like, share, subscribe, potentially even tell a friend about the Bengaria Show. And do me a favor. You guys have been doing this in bunches. Uh, follow me on all social media platforms at Ben Garcia Show. Get in on the conversation. Tell me why you love me. More preferably, tell me why you hate me. I think that that is way funnier. Uh, and yeah, good times ahead. John Voida, good morning. Welcome to the show. How you doing, man?
I’m good, man. I I just got one question. Like when you see Jordan Au up there and he’s like, “Hey, you know, when I discuss things with BG and how we’re going to operate, do you get confused?” You’re like, “Oh, he’s talking about Ben Garcia.” But really, he’s talking about Brian Gregory. Like, is there a confusing moment for you?
I’m not a big nickname guy. When I was a kid, I was a big Allen Iverson guy. So, when people wanted when I would call myself the answer,
because I just wanted to be Allen Iverson. And I’m nowhere near who Allen Iverson is. Uh, people recently have been calling me BG.
Yeah. I’m kind of into it. I’m
What’s your middle name?
Paul.
So, BPG.
Yeah. Yeah. That that way doesn’t go really well. I remember my ex-girlfriend tried to put me like you know what like in high school they like would put your name in your bio. I never went into that. But they she put like BPG and I was like that’s weird but it’s okay. We’ll figure it out. Um we’re no longer together which is great. Um
well I’m John Voited the third so JV3 is like what my friends call me.
Pretty cool. And if you do this, let’s see if I get this right. That’s like a J of the three with my That is That is pretty cool. Yeah. No, what mine people Yeah. In the comment sections, people are calling me BG. And I’m like, okay. Like I think I think I think I can dig that either way. All right. We’re not here to talk about me. We’re talking about We’re here to talk about a different three BB3. Bradley Beal. You wrote a really good article on this and you and I talked on locked on Phoenix Suns. We did a whole show over there, but we didn’t talk anything Bradley Beal. And I was the one that pushed that out the door because I just kind of felt like, oh, there’s been a lot of Bradley Beal talk. We don’t need to do this again right now. Let’s do some other things. But then it came out like almost hours later that the Suns were thinking about waving and stretching Bradley Beal. And I tweeted out immediately, turning a five-year problem into a two-year problem, or I’m sorry, turning a two-year problem into a five-year problem is malpractice, especially when you’re not competing for a title. We’ll get into like the opinions of it, all that stuff in just a second, but explain to my listeners because you truly are. We’ve talked we’ve talked about your your articles on this kind of stuff on Locked on Suns a few different times now when it came to Bradley Beal waving and stretching trading him straight up buying him out. Explain to my viewers like they are 5 years old just like me. Uh dumb it down real easy for them. What is the difference between just straight up buying out Bradley Beal and waving and stretching him? Because I think some of them think it’s the same thing. So, I’ll do my best, but this is something that I started writing about on Bright Side of the Sun last March. And along the journey, I’ve I’ve really started to learn how the mechanics of this would work.
Uh, essentially, you look at your cap. Everybody has the same cap. And the cap going into next season is $154.6 million, right? So, there’s a couple options that lie before the Suns. Now, you say waving and stretching. Waving and stretching technically isn’t an option in this case because a waving is something that happened with like Milwaukee and Damen Lillard where they didn’t negotiate with him. They didn’t come to a final number and say, “Hey, we agree upon this number. Let’s give you this amount of money and you’re no longer on the team. What they did is they truly waved and stretched is they just said, “Hey, we owe you $12.5 million. You have no say in this. You’re off the team.” And then with that money that’s remaining rather than taking the cap hit this this season and next season they’re stretching it over five years because it decreases that total hit. Now in that specific scenario when you wave somebody and then stretch it only 15% of the dead cap money can count towards your cap. So in this case 15% of 154.6 million is right around like 23 million. And in Damen Lillard’s case, his wave and stretch ended up being like 14.6% of the total cap. So they could do it. The Bradley Beal situation is unique because it would have to be a buyout. Anything that happens with Bradley Beal is a buyout. Which means essentially they have to go to Bradley Beal and they both sides the Suns and Beal need to agree on what that final number is. And be and if they do agree on that number then the Suns have options. They can they can stretch it over a duration of five pe five years. And some people might ask, well, where’s that five years come from? Whenever you’re stretching a contract, it’s twice the remaining amount on the contract. So, in this case, Bradley Bill has two years left. So, that would be four years plus one year. You look at Nir Little, the same thing happened with him. He had, I believe, he had uh three years left on his contract. So, when the Suns bought him out or I’m sorry, when they waved him, because they didn’t buy out, there’s no negotiation. They waved him and stretched him. It was a seven-year hit when they did it. It’s $3.1 million of dead cap money per year. So in the Bradley Beal case, you would buy him out for a specified amount and then stretch him. And some people might be asking, well, why don’t you just do what the Milwaukee Bucks did? Why don’t you just wave him and then stretch him? Because he makes less than Damen Lillard. Again, Damen Lillard was 112.5 million. Bradley Beiel’s 10.8 million. That’s less. But the reason you can’t do that is the aforementioned Nir Little. EJ Liddell as well. They did the same thing with his contract where it only hits the books for $600,000. But you add all that up, there’s already $3.8 million of dead cap on the Suns books. So if they attempted to wave Bradley Beal, it would come out to right around $19 million. It puts the Suns over that 15% dead cap restriction that you can’t carry in a stretch scenario. The other option that the Suns could do is well going back to that option, they’d have to buy him out for less than $97 million. They would have to agree $97 million is the number if we buy you out. Here’s your money, Bradley Beer. Here’s $97 million not to play in Phoenix. And then the Suns have options from there. They can stretch that over the amount of five years, which comes to about 22 million every year for the next five years of dead cap money. Dead Cap doesn’t put on sneakers. Dead Cap doesn’t put on shorts. Dead Cap doesn’t play. The other option that the Suns have is they could buy out Bradley Beal for a specified amount or his entire amount and then just take the cap hit the next two years at a pro-rated uh uh number. So, of his $10.8 million, 48.5% of that is owed this year, 51.5 is owed next year. So, if you reach an agreement or just buy them out straight up for the 110.8 8 million. You could have it last for just two years. If you say, “Hey, here’s n here’s 80. Let’s say it’s $100 million. Nice easy number. $100 million, Bradley Bill. Here you go. Go away.” The Suns can then say, “You know what? We’re going to take that cap hit these next two years, not stretch it over five years, and it would be $48.5 million a cap hit this year, $51.5 uh million dollar cap hit next year.” So, that’s the best I can explain it. I No. And No. And No. And it’s a it’s a it’s a mouthful, but I think for someone that has written about it, it’s a little bit easier for you to put it in those words because when I was reading it in your article, I was like, “Oh, yeah. Here’s the thing with the waving and stretching thing.”
Buying out and stretching.
Buying out and stretching over the next couple years. The waving and stretching that I keep mentioning the Suns cannot do because he makes way too much money.
Like you had mentioned before, the 15% of the cap
you’re allowed to do. Now, the the Milwaukee Bucks just did this with with Damen Lo. They’re It’s nuts, man.
It is an insane number.
Over the next couple of years, the Milwaukee Bucks are going to talk about, “Oh, who do we want here? We want uh let’s go get I don’t know. Let’s go get freaking Zachary Reishes when he hits the open market, but they can’t they can’t touch like that’s what I want to explain to the fan base who I’m also trying to make smarter here that are just like, well, we don’t care. Like, figure out whatever it is.” Even though you can’t wave and stretch Bradley Beal, the issue is when you do this, you are not touching $20 million. And then the buyout and stretching as well. This is why if the Suns could just buy Bradley Bop and just
Here’s the thing. If Matt HBI, who continuously shows me he does want to win with his checkbook, there’s no there’s no arguing there. It’s what he continues to do. He continues to open up his checkbook and pays the money. If it’s anything over a longer than what they have Bradley Beal, it would be malpractice, man. Because then you look at what the Milwaukee Bucks are doing and they are having 22 million or 21 million or something like that over five years where they just can’t touch it. I don’t understand making a two-year problem something that like with the Suns, you’re not competing over the next two years anyways. Why make something that is a two-year problem
and just I would just keep him on the roster, too. I don’t I don’t understand really buying him out either unless he’s so toxic. I don’t get spreading that money over anything longer than two years because I do think there is a world where the Suns compete this year. And what I mean by that is the Suns are just really competitive this year and make the playoffs and give a team in the first round a run for their money. I do think there’s a world where the Suns are competitive. And so what you’re doing is next year I think Bradley Beal actually becomes not a desirable asset. I know when people say he’s an expiring deal. He’s $55 million or something like that in an expiring deal. They’re like, “Oh, Bradley Beal, like that’s a desirable.” No, I wouldn’t say it’s a desirable contract, but it’s no longer a net negative where I don’t think next year you’re going to get back bad contracts back for Bradley Peele. I guess I’m curious your opinion now. What do you think the Suns should do? Because again, there’s a chance that they stay competitive this year and then pushing that window even further where three years from now when you’re trying to sign a free agent that I do think Phoenix is a desirable location, they can’t get that guy because they’re still paying Bradley Beal potentially $17 million a year and it’s the cap is already difficult to deal with now. Why make it harder on yourself? That’s my point.
So, I’ll start by saying this. If you look at it through the lens of the Phoenix Suns, what ultimately they’re trying to do if they buy out and stretch Bradley Bill’s contract, which is what they’re going to do, like this isn’t an if, this is a when. I I guarantee you he will be gone. Uh I I talked with Bobby Marks this morning and I asked I go, “Hey, if they bring down that number enough, you know, could it be viable for the Suns?” He goes, “Yeah, of course, but you know, like an $80 million deal, if you can get it down to $80 million and then just take the two-year cap hit, is that desirable?” goes, “Yeah, for the Suns, but Bradley Bill’s not going to take a $30 million wash.” He’s not. Even if he goes somewhere else and can make up the money somewhere else, he’s just not going to do that, right? Again, he holds all the cards. I’ve been somebody who’s been pretty adamantly beating the drum for quite some time that Bradley Beal needs to be gone. Uh, and it’s it’s primarily because we need to put this iteration of the Phoenix Suns behind us. But now that we’re on the precipice of this occurring, I I second guess myself because I’m very much aligned with your thinking, Ben, where you can’t compound a problem with another more long-term problem. Now, if you’re willing to talk him down to 97 million because again, that that’s that is a desirable number. It makes sense for the Suns if they want to buy him out and then stretch him, uh it makes sense for him because he can go somewhere and get the mid-level exception from another team. and it’s a he actually makes a little bit of money out of the deal. Uh but it also puts you in a situation where now the Suns have a decision. It’s like, hey, do we just bite the bullet? Do we do we get him down to 97 and then take that money and and bite the bullet for the next two years or do they stretch it and again compound that problem? And compounding the problem, in my opinion, and to your point, it isn’t the answer because again, three years down the line, we don’t know what this team’s going to be. And if you want to sit there and you want to make decisions, having that $22 million cap hit, even though even though it’s going to be a a lesser percent of your cap, right, because the cap’s going to continue to go up and that number stays the same. So that’s the only advantage of it, but it it restricts you. Now, the Suns, the way that they’re thinking is, hey, we’re a team that’s in the second apron right now. If they can buy out Bradley Beal and stretch that that contract, they save themselves this year to the cap about $30 million, 33, something like that. So, it really puts them in a situation where they can start to be a little bit more flexible. They can start to build out the team that they want with aggregation of salaries. You know, if Bradley Beal, not if, when Bradley Beiel gets bought out, then it’s then you start to go, okay, well, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neal, you know, Grayson Allen and Nick Richards, aggregate those contracts together for 21 million, send them somewhere and get a $21 million player back, open up a couple more roster spots, add a CP3. It really allows the Suns to start making more moves instead of the moves to this point, Ben, that we’ve seen where it’s add a veteran minimum guy here, resign Colin Gillespie, build through the draft. So, I can see why in the short term it makes sense for the Suns and that’s what they want to do. But again, you’re hampering the next 5 years. And you think 5 years ago, 5 years ago was 2020. That feels like forever ago. 5 years from now is 2030. Who’s this team going to be then? What are they going to be trying to accomplish? And have a $22 million deadcap above your head. It’s just it’s not good long-term strategy. I’m going to be honest with you. You mentioned the trade stuff with Bradley Peele. Here’s why I want to keep Bradley Peel on the team. Not because I like like I I agree with you in the in the spot of this season was so gross everyone needs to be gone. I totally get that. I actually kept on saying that with the front office before people started to not people just one person tried to tell me I was a front a mouthpiece for the front office despite all the things that I’ve said before in terms of like
I get the same [ __ ] I block those guys. I’m like really do you read what I write? Like I’m surprised I have a media credential sometimes.
Yeah. I’m I’m So it was funny. someone with Lockdown Podcast Network said he goes, “Hey man, you’re really like you’re really hard on the team. How do you do they know that? Are you are how do you still get a credential?” And every single time I’m like, “I don’t care. I don’t want to be there.” If they’re not going to let me say uh if they’re not going to let me say what I what I say about the team if they’re that sensitive, send me home. I don’t want to be there. And that’s
I’ll write about them from home. I can It’s easier. I don’t have to drive down there.
Yeah. Like it’s not like I live close. But yeah, someone said I was being a mouthpiece for the team and I was like, dude, it was someone who has I I remember who the who the kid is now. And I’m not going to call people up. I I don’t care about that. I don’t care about it that much. But for me, it was always like he’s got a decent following on Twitter. I don’t want to start those wars. I don’t care. But it was uh uh I was just like, you have no idea what you’re talking you like you legitimately have no idea what you’re talking about because you haven’t worked in this space and you think you could just go up there and ask a question. and say, “Kevin, why do you suck?”
Yeah, I know.
If you wouldn’t do that, and I know you wouldn’t, then don’t tell me I should do that because I don’t tell I don’t even tell anyone that they suck. I just get yelled at on social media about it. But, and my whole roundabout way of saying this is I thought everyone should be gone from the Suns front office, head to toe, coach, the the person that wiped the shoes down, everyone, because it was such a bad season that everyone had to be gone. So for someone to try to say like, “Oh, you are buddies with Josh Bartlestein.” I hate Josh Bartlestein. I’ve been pretty clear about my dislike for Nepo babies who didn’t work hard to get to their spot where they needed to be. He might have worked hard like, but he likely would not have been at the spot where he is at his age be if his daddy didn’t get him there. That’s why I don’t respect him. But that’s more personal than it is actually on the floor. And same with the Bradley Beal thing. I totally get what you’re saying to like everyone needs to be gone outside of Deon Booker or the key pieces. I get that because the stench was so bad from last year. However, I really like the idea of next year he’s a $53 million expiring deal. Then you could either just wait until the end of the year and until the end of next year and you got $53 billion opening up or you can move him for two really good pieces. I don’t I just don’t I guess I’m having a hard time of I know he’s annoying and I know he’s been hard, but either a sit his ass on the bench over over the next uh uh over the next 82 games, play him minimally or send him home. Now, I understand sending him home is a lot easier said than done because there’s a thing called the players association who’s like, “Why did you send this guy home?” And then you have grievances. So, I I get that that’s a little bit more difficult. You guys kind of have to come to that agreement if he’s going to do that like they did
like they did with Jay Crowder. I don’t really know if that’s even true either, but they I I just like the idea of next year trading him off for 53 million. I I don’t get it, man. If you’re a team that you know is not competing this year, bingo.
What? Why? Why? Like you just don’t want him here because he’s not here. I don’t want him here either. That’s the point I’m trying to make. But like I can’t really find a viable reason on why they should just expedite these problems unless it’s over the next two years. Even then, I still don’t really agree because I can’t trade that deal next year. It’s a it’s a bought out deal. I I don’t know, man. I guess I’m curious your opinion now. Like what would you do? So again, I’m somebody who’s been beating the drum that I don’t want Bradley Beal on this team for quite some time. But with that being said, again, now as we’re at the precipice of him being bought out, I’ve kind of and what I typically do in my writing on Bright Side is I try to see all points of view. You know, I I try to go, okay, this is what I think, but like people who oppose this, what could they think? And as I’ve done that thought exercise, I’ve kind of come out on the other side saying, you know what, if we’re talking worst case scenario here, the worst case scenario is not Bradley be on this team. The worst case scenario is us paying 22 million in 2030 in 2031 for him. You know, that that’s where I’ve kind of landed. And so I’ve explored the reasons. Well, why would you want him on this team? And there are valid reasons. You know, you go back and you look at this team and the way that they’ve played. And I’ll start with Kevin Durant. You know, with Kevin Durant on this team and the air that he uh sucks up and the auction that he sucks up in the locker room, I feel like Bradley Beal’s voice might have been muted. And I know that this has been a team that we’ve been very frustrated with the way that they play, the way they perform, the way they compete for the last two years while Bradley Beal’s been here, but Kevin Durant’s been here too and Booker as well. And so Bradley Beal still has the capacity to be a leader. I think back to a couple seasons ago when this team was going through it right at the end of the season and you know a very hard schedule. Can they get the six seed? Will they fall into the plane? And Bradley Beal was helping us win games. And when he was interviewed afterwards, the young guys are around him cheering him on, splashing him with water, uh showcasing that they believed in Bradley Beal and he was kind of that leadership voice for those young players. You look at this team that we’re going to have next year, it’s full of young players who are impressionable. One of them being Jaylen Green, who’s somebody who Bradley Beal can mentor and show him how to be the type of player that Bradley Beal was in his 20s and an electric explosive, a guy who puts pressure on the rim, a guy who can shoot threes, and obviously that’s a challenge for uh for Jaylen Green. And maybe Bradley Beal can give him some advice on that. But to those who think that Bradley Beal should just quote unquote go home, like being punitive is never the answer. You can’t punish players. What are you punishing him for? for the fact that he plays 53 games in both seasons in which he was here. Uh for the fact that he’s got a really great contract that he worked out, you know, you’re punishing him for doing the right thing for him and his family. You’re not punishing him because he’s got a bad attitude. You’re not punishing him because of poor performance. You’re not punishing him because of lack of availability. You’re punishing him because you want him to go away and try to make him want to to leave. All you’re doing is diminishing your leverage. and all you’re doing is setting forth a bad culture for a bunch of young guys who are coming in here and being introduced to this new look Phoenix Suns. So, I get the when people say like, “Yeah, just send him home.” I I get it. It sounds nice in theory, but being punitive, as somebody who’s managed people for a long time in my professional career, being punitive never works. You never get the desired result. So, bring him in here. Allow him the opportunity to make an impression on these young guys. allow him an opportunity to to play and see what see what he has. I mean, he still is a talented player. You don’t have Kevin Durant here, so that’s one less per person clogging the mid-range. And who knows, you know, him and him and Booker did work two seasons ago. It didn’t work last year simply because this team decided that, oh well, we need to bring Ty Jones and start that veteran minimum deal. And it made us weaker defensively and the entire team suffered, primarily Bradley Beal.
Can you sit Bradley Beal on the bench? I think so. You You did it last year.
Well, you keep mentioning Yeah. And it was toxic. And I was the one beating the
But how was it toxic? Who Who was it toxic?
They were They were terrible. They were terrible.
They were terrible. But they It’s not necessarily because of him. They sat him at the same exact time they sat Yousef Nerkach where the Nerkage toxicity occurred where the head coach was fighting his center and he was being punitive with him to the point where they traded him. the team under and remember the first month that that happened, Bradley Beal was fantastic coming off of the bench. So there was toxicness on this team, but I wouldn’t define it as Bradley Beal being toxic. The tox what was toxic was the poor leadership that they put in charge in the form of Mike Buddher. Mike Benholtzer truly was an awful leader. I would agree with that. I I mean, no, seriously, I think sometimes I think sometimes Bud like halfway through the season was like, “Oh, this is awful. I’m going to try to get fired.” And he successfully did. Um,
mission accomplished.
Yeah, dude. With Beal, I I guess the the question is this. I I don’t know if you can bring him off the bench. I guess you can. And you can’t sit Jaylen Green. He’s too young and he just traded for him. It’s not going to happen. Could Brad come off the bench and play that? I don’t know, man. It feels like it’s too much redundancy. And that’s what I think the issue was. the reason why Brad Beal didn’t work here in Phoenix and it it was it was staring me right in the face and I I was the one that that I I I was a big Bradley Beal fan before he came to Phoenix because I’m a bandwagon Florida Gator fan. I watched him over in Florida. I’ve seen Bradley Beiel do awesome things with the Wizards and I thought it was transferable because at the end of the day he was toxic through the media, but he was always like the one thing I have to give Beiel is he was always willing to to let his stats get hurt for the betterment of the team. Like he wasn’t a selfish player. Nope. He was just bad with the media because he was reading the headlines and he wasn’t great. I guess I would ask you this. This is the ultimate million-dollar question. I don’t think this is true. I think Brad is still a very good player in the NBA. In fact, I think on a bad team, he’s like potentially an all-star level player in the NBA. But let me ask you this. Is Bradley Beal cooked? I don’t think that’s the case. He’s only 32 years old. He hasn’t had like a blown Achilles or like a torn ACL to where it’s like, oh yeah, no, this guy can’t play anymore. It’s not the Derek Rose thing. Is he cooked or is it just a bad fit in Phoenix before and it might be different now?
He’s he’s not cooked. We just have a bad taste in our mouth because we’ve looked at it through the lens of the fact that he came here as essentially the Devin Booker of the Eastern Conference. We brought him to the Phoenix Suns. Everything he brought was redundant to what this team was. And you take into account the fact that he’s got paid as much as he has and he has the no trade clause in his contract. So that’s why Suns fans greatly disdain the idea of Bradley Beal. He is not when you talk about price for value paid, it’s not there. And again, as you mentioned, it hasn’t needed to be there. He just needed to be the third wheel, which he did. He he was a great third wheel. I put a stat out sometime uh it was after last season, but like he was the best third wheel in the league behind Christophs Porzingis if you look at total scoring, right? The best number three guy in the league was Bradley Beal. He does it on and he’s very efficient in doing so. Uh, you know, availability is the best ability and 53 games in year 1, 53 games in year two. That’s not going to cut it for some guy you’re paying as much as you are. So, from that perspective, yes, you could say he’s quote unquote cooked. But as a basketball player, he’s not. Ben, you know that. I know that he’s going to go somewhere after we buy him out and he’s going to be productive where he goes because he’s still a quality basketball player. But his price for value paid wherever he goes. If he’s on a mid-level exception for 14.1 million, it’s going to be a steal of a deal because he can give you what you need. And when he’s not available, you’re like, “Yeah, well, you know, it’s 14.1 million. This isn’t a guy we’re paying $53 million uh to play 60% of the games.” So, he’s still a quality basketball player, but in Phoenix, it didn’t work out. It’s not going to work out. Uh it’s unfortunate, but it’s unfortunate not because of of Bradley Beal. And again, everybody gets frustrated with Bradley Beal in this situation. Don’t be frustrated. Bradley Beal, good dude, great dude. Great guy to talk to. It’s this ownership and what they did coming in here with Ishbia waving his checkbook around being like, “Hey, I can just throw money at the next all-star who’s available. Hey, it happens to be Bradley Beal. Should we get him off the no trade clause?” No, you’re his agent and oh, look at you’re my CEO. This is going to be perfect. that this this organization to this point has fumbled the Devin Booker Kevin Durant era and now they’re going to fumble it afterwards and and the rest of Deon Booker’s prime because of their inability to make quality decisions. Yeah, I um I’ve went after the players a little bit more than I think everyone else has in terms of why it’s all failed. I think ownership I think ownership, front office, all of that has played a 50-50 role in it. In fact, I think you could argue 6040. Maybe other people would argue way more. I think part of this is Devin Booker recruited him here. Kevin Durant recruited him here. They wanted Taius Jones here. Um, even though Kevin Durant tried to tell me that that wasn’t the case, as wildly reported, but you know, whatever. Uh, nothing is ever Kevin Durant’s fault. I learned that pretty quickly.
Nothing nothing nothing is ever his fault. Um, I would I don’t think he’s cooked. I just I don’t know how it’s going to work. It it’s just so much redundancy. I I’m thinking I’m like, okay, if you throw because it was funny because Beal defensively at the beginning of the season was actually pretty good in terms of like Bradley Beal’s pretty good. He wasn’t Drew Holiday,
but he was not a net negative defensively.
I don’t know, man. I I don’t know what you do with the situation.
I guess this is my final question because I want to give the Suns office a chance to redeem themselves if this blows up in their face, too. Do you think there is a move coming directly after the Brad Deal buyout? Buyout and stretch, which we don’t know what that looks like, but do you think there’s a move coming for or for the Phoenix Suns after Bradley Beal is gone that maybe we don’t know about or this is it? This is it. They’re going to get this guy off this off the roster because they just want him off the roster.
There has to be a move. I mean, look at what look at what the Damen Lillard situation did in Milwaukee, right? They did that knowing that they had a move up their sleeve. That move was Miles Turner. You know, is it the best move? Probably not. Uh, you know, that’s their perception.
Got him for a good deal. Got him for a good deal, though. Technically, $250 million deal.
Yeah. But shame on the Pacers, though, cuz they didn’t offer him anything close to and they should have. I mean, it’s like the Suns because he’s he’s the only other player from the 2015 draft who was still in his original team other than Devin Booker and they opted not to go with loyalty. They opted to pinch Penny or Penny Pinch.
Yeah, I’m I’m sorry. I’m sorry for I I would like to I want to finish that that part as well. Like if there’s a part over this, but it’s my show, so shut up. No, I’m just kidding. Um I’m just kidding. That’s so mean. Um you you’ve obviously don’t watch my show and the way we interact.
Yeah. Well, no, it’s it’s okay. So, say what you want about Matt Ishbia. And I do think Say what you want, and I I put this out there the second I saw it. He can be a little arrogant. He can be a little pushy. He can think he can just solve things with money. If the Suns just went to If the Suns just went to the semifinals in the Western Conference, if the Suns were a Western Conference Finals team and let’s say just for all extensive purposes, Grace Nen was a huge piece in it. But the only way they could have Grace Nen back is if and only if they uh uh they went over the apron and paid the money. If the Suns had an exact situation like Miles Turner finals, Western garments finals, whatever. Say whatever you want about Matt Ishpia and there’s a lot of things to say about him. No chance in bleeping bleep would he have let Miles Turner walk and that is something that will always be good about Ishbia. He does not care about money. The Pacers ownership wouldn’t go into the first apron to save their team. Like that is crazy. So
uh your thoughts quickly on that and then yes of course if there’s a deal going on for Bradley Bill because I’m keeping you longer than I should be right now.
No, you’re fine. Uh yeah, I think it’s just poor management by the Pacers. And again, it’s something that for all the frustrations that we have and as I just stated, how this organization has completely mismanaged the KD/Booker era and is in the process of fumbling potentially the rest of the Devin Booker’s Prime era. Uh at least they’re trying and that’s one thing I will I will continue to beat the drum for on Bright Side and on the Suns Jam Session podcast in every outlet I can coming on the Ben Garcia. I’ll say it everywhere is I’m thankful that we have somebody who who at least tries who’s at least going to try to put us in a position to be successful. You know, he he’s learning. He’s learning along the way. He’s in year three of being an owner. And guess what? He’s going to mess up. And as a fan base, we just have to accept that that’s part of it. You know, everyone’s like, “Oh, I don’t want him to be my owner.” Okay, do you want to be have the ownership group of the Pacers right now? Hell no. I’d be pissed right now. But that being said, the Suns have to have another move waiting up their sleeve. And what that remains or what that is remains to be seen. You know, I’m I’m crunching scenarios in my head. I’m looking at restricted free agents, right? I’m looking at people like Josh Giddy potentially who look is looking for like $30 million from the Bulls uh in his in his extension, you know, 30 million next year. And the Suns, it’s like even though this is going to when they buy out be and they stretch that and it opens up $30 million, they’re still not under the the cap, right? Uh I think they’re under the first a they would be under the first apron, but you still are going to have Go ahead. You got something? I was pointing up a one. Oh, okay. I was just like, did I miss a notification? Did it happen? Uh, but it’s you’re still going to have to get creative in the way that you acquire quality talent. And one of the ways to do that would be like assign uh a sign and trade from Chicago coming to Phoenix and you give up a combination, right? you give up Bradley or I’m sorry uh uh Grayson Allen and Nick Richards or you give up Jaylen Green potentially, you know, and and you get a point guard in here. I don’t know if that makes sense for the Bulls, but again, those are the scenarios where the Suns obviously they have to have something lined up because if you get rid of Beal, you have a roster spot open. So, you’re going to fill that with somebody is that when CP3 comes in here and now CP3 can have his old number back, you know, and you know, because Bradley Beal’s BB3 is gone. So when this happens, there’s going to be subsequent moves that occur. My assumption is one of Royce O’Neal or Grayson Allen most likely won’t be on the team. Nick Richards might not be on the team. There might be an aggregation of salaries with those guys to identify somebody who they can bring in. So, you know, it’s it’s unfortunate, but like I always say, the Suns might not always be good, but they’re always exciting, Ben. They’re always doing something that has, you know, man, that’s what’s been great is you like I jump on here and I’m like, “Ah, I I thought about doing this yesterday with you, filming this, but I was like, it’s July 4th, like let’s let’s let everyone relax and and have a good holiday.” And I was and so we did this today and I was and I’m like, “Oh, you know, I’m happy we’re doing this today because we might not be able to do this, but whatever.” And I’m like, every week I say that the Suns do something insane to do the next big thing. And so I’m like, “All right.” I I keep on wanting to go back to Cardinal stuff because I do little bit of everything here and I wish I could talk Dimebacks, but they’re awful again, which is just fun. And then the
They are literally the most mid you could be in. Like I’m not talking about you if you’re like I’m not talking about you if you’re mid. You know, I had someone tell me yesterday
like, “Yeah, I don’t see you talk a lot of diamond backs.” I was like, “Because they suck. Why would I
Why would I not talk about you if you’re if you’re terrible? I’ll do it on lock on diamond backs if you want if I add that show, but I’m not doing that here.” So, it’s like I want to get back to Cardinals talk, but every single week there’s something for the Phoenix Suns. So, I would agree with you, man. The Miles Turner situation is insane. Um, I would hope the Suns keep one of Royce O’Neal or maybe
you need that coming off the bench.
I I I Well, I like Royce as a leader, like a quiet leader, like just a solid vet. And I like Grayson, but his contract is a little it is a little lucrative.
And I like Royce as a point of attack defender, you know? I mean, He’s not a great perimeter defender, but he’s a great point of attack defender.
I think he’s not a net negative defensively and the Suns have not I think with this Suns like last year, I think he was just
like a mid, we were talking about that, a mid defender. Defend, but when you put him around Brooks and Dunn and and whatever, uh, maybe he figures it off. Maybe Mark Williams figures it out. Malawatch Fleming. I think then Royce O’Neal becomes a plus defender. again, not
not prime Drew Holiday, but a plus defender. And so that’s what I think I would like to keep one of them, but like if they’re both gone, again, they’re not competing. They’re not competing for a championship next year. They’re just going to be competitive. I keep getting in trouble because Suns fans can’t they can’t understand the differentiate.
Yeah. When I’m like, “Yeah, they’re not going to be a championship team next year.” Like they’d be crazy to think that. But anyways, man, uh John Boyd of the Sun Suns Jam Session podcast and Bright Side of the Sun does a lot of work there. He also does like retirement work. I found out it’s his real day job. So listen, when you turn 60, I don’t even know what the retirement age is. Oh my god.
Yeah.
I don’t work. I don’t want to work.
I’m an IT I’m an IT resource and talent acquisition manager. That’s That’s what I do for the
talent acquisition. Nice. All right. Maybe I’ll have to hit you up for a job. No, I’m just kidding. All right, man. Um I say I don’t want to work till I’m 25, but I just realized I’m 27, so I don’t know what I was thinking there. Anyways,
fun fun fact just real quick. If you look at like if you take Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal and you add those contracts together, they’re they’re right around like 26 million. And if you’re saying, “Hey, we can aggregate those salaries now. Who can we go get?” These are players that make 27 million. Develier, Tobias Harris, John Collins, Draymond Green, Nick Claxton, Miles Bridges, Trey Murphy, Jaylen Brunson, Male Bridges. We get Male Bridges back. We’ve done it, Ben. We figured it out.
I don’t want to do it anymore. Stop it. Get him back. Bring back CP3.
We just missed out on
I know you’re being funny, but I still need to yell at you.
I am so over the 2021 team. I’m so over it, man. Like, I love the team. They were fun. I’m over it. Like, let’s move on, guys. Anyways, they’re going to wear they’re going to wear these Valley jerseys behind me uh next year, so they’re not gonna be completely over it. Dude, I have a medium Devin Booker Valley jersey knowing damn good and well I like my like I could fit into a medium, but I like my clothes
I like to fit I like my clothes to fit baggy on me. Like I I’m an adult now. I guess that that’s what you do when you’re older.
I have a medium valley Suns jersey in here. I just want to give it away at some point. Like I I’ve never worn it. It doesn’t have a tags on anymore, but I’ve never worn it. And I’m like I don’t even really wear jerseys anymore.
I’m a jersey shirt guy. I like the jersey shirts.
I I just Dude, I’m 27. I’ve got
I’m 42. I’m not wearing a jersey.
I’m not wearing I’m not I It’s just hard for me to wear another man on my back and like I No shade to anyone that does it, but like I have a Shawn Marian jersey because Shawn Marian is my favorite of all time.
Favorite son of all time. Not close. Loved him. Um but I have a throwback like Sunburst black. They sold them at like Just Sports years ago when I used to work at Just Sports. And I have that and I wear that only and I tell everyone it’s a guy I watched when I was younger. I don’t know if I’m gonna wear Booker. Like I have a stitched authentic Devin Booker black jersey in there.
Get you a Beal jersey. Not going to wear it. Dude, I I would have bought one in the beginning. Anyways, John Boyd Bright Side of the Sun. Um Bright Side of the Suns Jam Session Podcast. Appreciate you making me a part of your day, man. Uh thanks for showing up talking about all things on two different platforms now. So listen, you ever need me, you don’t, but let me know. Maybe I’ll scratch your back a little bit, too. And everyone watching, man, for everyone watching, man, don’t forget to like, share, subscribe, potentially tell a friend about the Ben Garcia Show. And follow me on all social media platforms, Ben Garcia Show. Follow my guy right here, too, because he’s one of the few ats I know, Darth Vida. Darth, and then his last name, Vida, just just like that, which is hilarious. So, uh, uh, we will see you guys then. I appreciate you guys watching. I’ll see you guys on Monday. Until then, it’s been the Ben Garcia Show.

Bradley Beal’s future with the Phoenix Suns hangs in the balance. What’s next for the star guard and the team?

Ben Garcia and guest from Bright Side of The Suns and @SunsJAM John Voita break down the complexities of Beal’s contract situation, exploring potential buyout and stretch scenarios. They analyze how these decisions could impact the Suns’ competitiveness during Devin Booker’s prime years. The conversation shifts to speculation on upcoming roster moves, including possible trades and free agent signings that could reshape the team’s future.

Tune in for an in-depth look at the financial implications and strategic considerations facing the Suns as they navigate this crucial decision.

0:00 Intro: Discussing Bradley Beal’s future with Suns
5:31 Explaining buyout vs waive and stretch options
10:57 Analyzing Suns’ potential moves with Beal
17:58 Debating keeping Beal vs buying him out
24:31 Is Bradley Beal “cooked” as a player?
30:31 Comparing Suns ownership to other NBA teams
35:16 Potential trade scenarios after Beal buyout