Bradley Beal didn’t take long to admit he’s ring-chasing with the Los Angeles Clippers, following his recent contract buyout from the Phoenix Suns.
“I need a ring,” Beal said during an interview with his hometown St. Louis’ TV news station KMOV Channel 4 on Monday, Aug. 11, about why he joined the Suns’ Pacific Division rival.
The Clippers are led by future Hall of Famers James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, and signed the Suns’ former All-Star Chris Paul on July 21, five days after Beal joined the team.
Beal added, “I want one bad, and I feel like I have a new life of rejuvenation, for sure. A new hunger. I’m excited about the opportunity, a new city, a new environment, but a hungry environment, too. I’m definitely excited about the opportunity to go win.”
The three-time All-Star Beal was traded to Phoenix from the Washington Wizards in June 2023. Paul was sent to Washington in the deal, then was traded again to the Golden State Warriors nearly two weeks later.
Now, Beal and Paul are teammates.
After Paul’s lone year with Golden State, the 40-year-old ”Point God” spent his 20th year with San Antonio last season, played all 82 games and was the NBA’s seventh-best in assists (7.3 per game).
After Paul reunited with the Clippers on a veteran minimum one-year deal for $3.6 million, Beal relinquished his No. 3 jersey number to Paul, an unwritten rule among players deferring numbers to their new senior teammates.
“Chris is lucky we have a previous relationship outside of basketball,” Beal said. “We’re good. Actually, I grew up and played in his camps, too. So it was kind of like a big bro thing. I had a choice but I really didn’t have a choice so it was out of respect. But it was a no-brainer for me.”
Beal had two consecutive injury-plagued seasons with the Suns, appearing in 53 games each season as their third-leading scorer (17.0 points). Between January and February last season, Beal was benched to become the Suns’ sixth man, despite his $50 million salary.
In his first year playing alongside Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, who was dealt to Houston this offseason, the Suns won 49 games, narrowly avoided the play-in tournament, and were subsequently swept from the 2024 playoffs’ first round as a sixth seed by Minnesota. The following year, the Suns finished 11th in the West on 36 wins and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
The Suns had Beal on the trade block this past season in a widely publicized two-month pursuit of former Miami Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler, who ended up with the Warriors, before the trade deadline. However, the Suns couldn’t move Beal because of his no-trade clause.
Because the Suns waived Beal, he no longer has that clause in his new two-year, $11 million deal, including a player option with L.A. The Suns will buy out nearly $97 million of Beal’s previous contract over five years at about $19.4 million a year.
The Clippers have won at least 50 games in the past two seasons and have been the West’s No. 4 and 5 playoff seeds in those years, respectively.