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The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the few teams that Phoenix Suns star Bradley Beal is willing to waive his no-trade clause, according to John Gambodoro, the longtime Sports Radio Talk Show host of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix.
“As for Beal the no-trade looms large. He could have [gone] to Milwaukee before he ended up in Phoenix but that was turned down. Have heard he would waive no trade for LA, Miami, Denver but I do believe there are a few others that he could ultimately decide work for him,” Gambodoro wrote in a post on X.
The Beal experiment in Phoenix isn’t working as the Suns moved the three-time NBA All-Star guard to the bench, along with veteran center Jusuf Nurkic.
“I think we just feel like we needed to make a change,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters, per The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin, before their January 6 road game against the Philadelphia 76ers. “Throughout a 48-minute game, you gotta figure out your best combinations, your best ways to try and have success.
“They are two important players to us, two very good players for us, we just felt like we needed to make a change.”
While Budenholzer maintained the change was a product of their four-game losing streak, league observers view it as the Suns’ way of forcing Beal to waive his no-trade clause to pave the way for their pursuit of Miami Heat’s disgruntled star Jimmy Butler.
The Suns are the “most interested team” in the Butler sweepstakes, according to NBA insider Marc Stein. They would have to need Beal to waive his no-trade clause to make a trade possible.
However, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on the January 6 episode of the “NBA Today” that “Bradley Beal contract is a non-starter right now” for the Heat.
The Suns would need a third team to absorb Beal’s remaining three years worth $160 million of his five-year, $251 million max contract in a Butler trade.
The Lakers could technically trade for Beal. However, it would gut out nearly half of their roster to match Beal’s $50.2 million salary for this season.
The Lakers are also not eyeing to add a third star after the failed Russell Westbrook experiment, according to Los Angeles Times’ Dan Woike.
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