Day: June 18, 2023

The Washington Wizards are working on rerouting Chris Paul to a third team after agreeing to a Bradley Beal trade with the Phoenix Suns.

The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to pursue a reunion with Paul.

Paul orchestrated an opt-in-and-trade from the Clippers to the Houston Rockets during the 2017 offseason. After two seasons with the Rockets, Paul subsequently played for the Oklahoma City Thunder for one season, then the Suns for three seasons.

The Miami Heat did not trade for Bradley Beal as they keep their focus on Damian Lillard, sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

There is a “genuine belief this could be the offseason [Lillard] seeks a change of scenery,” adds Haynes.

There have so far been no public indications that Lillard is entertaining requesting a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Blazers own the No. 3 pick in this week’s draft and Lillard has been clear in his preference for the team to add win-now players to the roster to improve their odds of becoming a contending team in the Western Conference again.

The Heat presumably could have offered the Washington Wizards a more attractive package of assets than the Phoenix Suns considering they own several of their own first round picks outright.

The Phoenix Suns have agreed to acquire Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards for a package that includes Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, multiple second round picks and pick swaps.

The Suns own their second rounders from 2023 until 2028, as well as pick swaps in 2024 and 2026. The Suns previously owe their first rounders in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 to the Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn also owns swap rights in 2028.

The deal is expected to be finalized in the coming days as they work out the details.

Beal had a no trade clause in his contract, which gave him a considerable amount of leverage in the talks.

“This was an extremely complicated process with so many different hurdles to get through and Ted Leonsis and Michael Winger were unbelievable partners in making this happen,” Bartelstein told ESPN. “From the day that Ted drafted Brad he has been by our side along with [former general managers] Ernie Grunfeld and Tommy Sheppard. They’ve always had Brad’s back in every way and now we have experienced the exact same thing with Ted and Michael Winger. We are extremely grateful.”

The Suns managed to keep Deandre Ayton out of the trade, though they now have four players on varying levels of max contracts. The Suns will have $163 million in salary committed to Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Beal and Ayton for the 23-24 season.

The Wizards will be unloading the final four years and $207 million of Beal’s contract