Bradley Beal had a long list of accomplishments during his 11 seasons with the Wizards, but he never got close to winning an NBA title. He hopes he has that chance with the Suns as he returns to Washington this afternoon, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
“Honestly, (Friday) is probably the first day it hit me, just getting closer to it,” Beal said. “Being back in the building, seeing familiar faces. I have no idea what to expect, to feel, but I’m kind of going in with just an open mind, open heart. Embracing all the feels, embracing the love. Whatever I get, you know, being thankful the moments that we had here and just take it all in.”
Beal has experienced a challenging season since waiving his no-trade clause and being dealt to Phoenix last summer. Back issues and a sprained right ankle sidelined him for 21 games early in the season, but he hasn’t been out of the lineup since late December. He’s currently dealing with a broken nose and trying to snap out of a shooting slump while adjusting to wearing a face mask.
“I’d be naive if I said it doesn’t have a little effect,” Beal said. “Still got to go hoop. Plenty of guys who have hooped with a mask and had success and done well. I got to step it up and be better. I know it’s tough. I got hit in it. Can’t control that, but I can control my play, my change of pace, not turn the ball over. I’ve got to be better, man. I’ve got to be a lot better.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Kings have interest in trading for Jerami Grant, but he prefers to stay in Portland and the Trail Blazers aren’t eager to move him, a source tells James Ham of Kings Beat (subscription required). Ham also hears that Sacramento has considered acquiring Kyle Kuzma on several occasions and could be in the market again if the Wizards are lowering their asking price.
- After Saturday’s loss at Atlanta, Warriors guard Stephen Curry said the players can’t afford to get distracted by Thursday’s trade deadline, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (video link). “Until it’s said otherwise or decisions are made, it’s up to us to go out and perform and hold our ground as a legitimate team that can win,” Curry said. “If you’re not, then you approach things differently when the opportunity presents itself.”
- Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins left Saturday’s game with a sprained foot, but X-rays were negative and he didn’t need crutches or a walking boot afterward, Slater adds (Twitter link).
- Clippers center Ivica Zubac has been upgraded to questionable for today’s game at Miami after being sidelined since January 12 with a strained calf, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Warriors better not trade away Wiggins. last night was a example of what would happen without him on the court. Trae Young wasn’t a factor when Wiggins was guarding him but once he went down Young scored over and over.
Yeah he is by far the best 1v1 Warriors defender, Kuminga is good too but not as effective, at least not at this point in his career.
If I am the Warriors the only player I am looking to trade right now is Chris Paul. Maybe a cp3-Brogdon swap.
Wiggins has been too inconsistent, we can always trade him in the offseason if teams are low balling. My thing is Podz, Kuminga, and Moody got to play a lot down the stretch. They need experience. Klay has too much of an ego not to play. Warriors need guts and pull a trade or two and turn the page. Wee have 3 players coming back from injuries soon and they cant all play.
Klay needs to go to the bench and play off the bench. He is no longer a 34 minute guy. I have noticed he gets tired in the 4th quarter in many games. being a bench player and about 24 minutes a game you would have Klay back scoring very well.
Warriors problem is not offense but defense and too small of players. Last night they were out rebounded when hawks went big. They couldn’t compete against bigger teams.
Crazy to think that this 2017 Wiz squad was prob the best team Brad Beal ever played on & they just completely let him down in this game. Probably the biggest game of his career & Beal played arguably the best game of his career… just as crazy that Brad Stevens chose to guard Beal with Isaiah Thomas when he had both Marcus Smart & Avery Bradley at his disposal but hey a gm7 W is a gm7 W… link to m.youtube.com
Phoenix not looking like a championship squad even with a healthy Durant, Booker and Beal. They don’t have enough defense. Denver and the L.A. Clippers are both better. Not convinced they can beat OKC or Minnesota in a 7-game series either. This year is their only shot at a title. Father Time is continuing to slowly chip away at Kevin Durant. Beal is giving definite Chris Paul playoff vibes in terms of injury.
Durant looking like he wants out. Minnesota is my pick to win it all.
Personally I think it depends entirely on Kawhi’s health. If he plays the whole playoffs I don’t see anyone beating the Clippers.
His impact on playoff basketball is truly incredible.
George and harden are much to inconsistent even if Leonard plays his butt off. The wolves are long,athletic and play tough D. The Ant is a true superstar and Kat isn’t far off. Rudy is a nice third piece in my opinion. Great depth also.
Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, C’s unprotected 2025 & 2027 1sts plus pick swaps in 2026 & 2030 to Golden State for Steph Curry & Gary Payton II.. C’s get a legend comparable to the guys in their rafters… W’s come to the realization that they’re not winning anymore titles anytime soon & get a pretty sweet haul for their all-time greatest player. Jaylen comes back to the Bay & they get some picks & an all-defense level guard… link to m.youtube.com
Curry is retiring with GSW. I don’t get why he would leave? He has a dirk mentality and wants to play for one team his entire career. Leave this Curry trade talk nonsense alone lol
Last night is a prime example of why he would leave. Nobody wants to be scoring 60 & losing. He’s playing at an elite level and surrounded by mediocrity (& at times stupidity – Draymond). In Dirk’s case he had mentally retired awhile before he actually retired. That’s why he could stay comfortable in Dallas, not even playing much, while they lost & rebuilt. Steph on the other hand is still literally 1 of the top 3 guards in the league & more importantly he’s far, far better than anyone else on his team. For an ultra competitor that’s a huge reason to leave. Especially when you can go play for a team like Boston that plays so similarly to how the Ws played in their prime
How is Draymond stupid? They would not have won any Finals if we’re not for Draymond.
I don’t think Curry leaves but I wouldn’t write it in pen
If they are in a similar position 365 days from now it’s fair to wonder if both Curry and Gsw would at least discuss the possibility
Good thing for Gsw is Curry is so valuable that even sitting out the next 2 nba cycles ( this Td and the summer ) still wouldnt affect his ability to get full value on the trade market
I tend to doubt that the Ws would get a prime all-NBA caliber guy plus a prime all-defense caliber guy plus 2 unprotected 1sts for Steph this time next yr but ya never know
Jaylen Brown is from Atlanta.
He played college at Cal Berkeley, probably what they were alluding to
You really thinks this would happen. You sir must be on drugs to even think it.,Curry has won his last title. He will retire a Warrior. Steve Kerr sucks as a coach can’t make adjustments. He still runs play Mark Jackson ran. He also has an ego if you ever meet him.
My favorite topic is to trade DLo/Vincent for Jeremy Grant.
Lakers add all picks and swaps remaining
Overpaid offer is the key to success.
Grant stats
21 points
FG 46%
3FG 40%
Nets to take DLo and send players to Blazers
Blazers say they don’t want to trade Grant so if they did, I think it would have to be a better offer than just getting the Lakers 2029 1st (a year they already have 3 1st round picks in) and taking on 2 bad contracts? Blazers want draft picks and young players. Salary fillers would likely need to be expiring, not players like Vincent that has multiple years of a bad contract left.
Sac should have game hunted last year when they had 30+ in expirings
The reason why everyone is asking more from them is they don’t want to take back the multi years on Barnes huerter and dav
Orl is in a similar situation this year and when pondering their approach might want to look how Sac played its hand and move differently
Phoenix did well to move CP3 for Beal and it looks cool on paper, 3 all stars but it’s just going to work in reality just like it never worked for Brooklyn. They don’t have a traditional point guard, KD is having to play PF, they get outmuscled and have no defence, there also very limited depth. I think they should be looking to flip Bradley Beal.
Beal and Little for John Collins and Jordan Clarkson?
Clarkson Booker KD Collins Nurkic
Collins gives them some more size, can still space the floor, gets out well in transition and can play small ball 5 if you need. Clarkson happy to start or come off the bench, would probably slot in well as their third scoring option.
Utah gets to make a backcourt of Keyonte George or Colin Sexton with Bradley Beal. You’ve got Lauri at the 3, Taylor Hendricks gets some good minutes finally and then Kessler at the 5.
Should LA trade for Murray and use Dlo they could become the third team in that deal.
ATL: Bradley Beal, JHS, a first and a pick swap
PHX: Dlo, Hunter and Mills
LA: Murray
PHX gets Dlo as the Booker partner in the backcourt this time, Hunter is a good 3 and D forward and on top of that a back up guard in Patty Mills, could be huge for the playoffs.
ATL salary dumps Hunter and doesn’t have to take back Dlo and still gets an all star calibre player in return plus picks.
Kings recieve Bruce Brown
raptors recieve Lyles, Vezenkov and Donavon Mitchell.
Then raps can trade Mitchell somewhere else.