The NBA World got put in a frenzy after the shockwave announcement on Father’s Day that the Washington Wizards are trading Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns. The return the Wizards are receiving is underwhelming.
Washington is getting Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, two first-round draft pick swaps, and multiple second-round draft picks. The pick swaps are for 2024 and 2026.
The Suns expect to be competitive and contenders for the NBA title. Meanwhile, the Wizards are in a total rebuild and don’t expect to be good. That forecast makes it hard to imagine the Wizards will be able to invoke those draft swaps.
Bradley Beal got to dictate where he got traded and who he got shipped for because of his no-trade clause. The Suns had a contingent, including superstars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, to make an aggressive pitch to Beal.
It also didn’t hurt that Beal’s representation had a family connection to the Suns. As it turns out, Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, is the father of Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein. How about that?
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the Wizards had better offers from other teams. So not only should the Wizards fans be furious but interested teams should question the trade. Is there a conflict of interest?
“Other teams that I have spoken [to] are just floored that the Suns got Beal for [a] salary dump – one said it was insane what the Wizards just did. They can’t understand why Washington did not do what Brooklyn did with [Kevin Durant] and just wait it out for a better deal,” John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM tweeted.
Certainly, critics of the trade will point to the family connection between the agent and executive.
Beal’s no-trade clause allowed him to call the shots. Beal’s agent helped along, and one could only imagine Mark Bartelstein throwing a bone to help his son. In return, the Wizards got the short end of the stick.
