👋 GOOD MORNING — Happy Thursday! Remember yesterday when I said offseason didn’t mean slow season?

The Phoenix Suns have taken that to heart this summer. We’ve barely gone a week without some sort of major news since the NBA Finals wrapped last month. On that note, I want to acknowledge our incredible PHNX Suns crew who work tirelessly to cover this team through all of the ups and downs. Let’s hope it’s all up from here!

On to the show!

— Leah Merrall

The Bradley Beal era in Phoenix is officially over.

Yesterday morning, Shams Charania reported that Beal agreed to a contract buyout with the Suns and plans to join the Los Angeles Clippers on a two-year, $11 million deal with a player option after clearing waivers.

According to our very own Gerald Bourguet, the Suns have until the end of August to officially waive-and-stretch Beal’s contract.

While the move comes as no surprise, it still marks the end to a chapter fraught with high expectations, disappointing results and a lot of negativity. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at the Beal era: how it came to be, what it was and where it all went wrong.

Bringing in Beal

In the summer of 2023, the Suns traded Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, four future first-round pick swaps and six future second-round picks in exchange for Bradley Beal. Jordan Goodwin and Isaiah Todd also came to Phoenix from Washington as part of the deal that involved the Suns, Wizards AND Indianapolis Pacers. Beal waived his no-trade clause to come to Phoenix.

“Bradley Beal is one of the best players in the NBA and brings so much to our team including incredible work ethic, great character, and the mindset of a champion,” Suns owner Mat Ishbia said in a statement at the time of the deal.

The trade for Beal was an all-in play for the Ishbia and the Suns, who now had a “Big 3” on their hands with Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

Unfortunately, the experiment didn’t quite go as planned.

Beal’s Time in Phoenix

Beal arrived in Phoenix as a 30-year-old looking to make an impact after spending 11 seasons with the Wizards.

Here’s how Beal fared as a Sun:

Injuries, fit and overall team struggles put a damper on Beal’s tenure in the desert. And overall fan negativity didn’t help. In January, a fan at a Suns home game heckled Beal so much that Beal’s six-year-old son was brought to tears.

Gerald reported that the Suns never shared the fanbase’s negative and occasionally toxic attitude toward Beal and still think highly of his character. The decision for a buyout ultimately came down to his health and the pieces not fitting.

What’s Next

Beal’s departure and the trade of Kevin Durant marks the end of the “Big 3” experiment in Phoenix. The Suns, under the new leadership of GM Brian Gregory and head coach Jordan Ott, opted to re-tool and make the best out of a bad situation.

So what now? Gerald took a deeper dive on the Suns’ plan moving forward.

Want to better understand the math behind Beal’s buyout and waive-and-stretch? Gerald unraveled that too.

Disaster Avoided: Eugenio Suárez appears to have avoided a major injury after he was hit by a pitch on his hand during Tuesday night’s All-Star Game. NL manager Dave Roberts said Suárez got X-rays that came back negative. Suárez returned to the game but did not participate in the tie-breaking Home Run Swing-Off as originally planned. The D-backs’ next game is tomorrow night at home against the Cardinals.

At the Break: The Mercury lost yesterday’s matinee to the Lynx 79-66. Kalani Brown ended the day with 11 points and 11 rebounds, but Western Conference-leading Minnesota dominated behind Kayla McBride’s 18-point performance. Phoenix doesn’t play again until July 23, but Alyssa Thomas is headed to Indianapolis for the WNBA All-Star game on Saturday (5:30 pm, ABC).

Unfortunately, Satou Sabally — who was selected as one of 10 All-Star starters in voting by fans, players and media — will not play in the game as she continues to recover from an ankle injury. She shared on her Instagram story that she will be in Indianapolis on Thursday for WNBPA discussions on the collective bargaining agreement.

What Happens in Vegas: The Mercury weren’t the only team to lose to a Minnesota-based basketball team yesterday. The Suns fell 89-85 to the Timberwolves in the team’s fourth Summer League game. Koby Brea (left thumb sprain) did not play. The Summer Suns have a 1-3 record in Vegas since the tournament kicked off last week.

Shout out to our intern Seth for his 10/10 acting skills here!

Trying to understand the math on the Bradley Beal waive-and-stretch like: