The Miami Heat have been floated as one of the four potential landing spots for three-time NBA All-Star Bradley Beal if he part ways with the Phoenix Suns this summer.
John Gambodoro, the longtime Sports Radio Talk Show host of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix, said “that there’s a zero percent chance that Bradley Beal comes back” to the Suns next season.
“And I truly believe that, you know me, if I go out on a limb, on something I’m probably doing it for a reason,” Gambodoro said on “Burns and Gambo” show on Saturday, April 13. “I don’t see a scenario in which Bradley Beal can come back.”
Beal has two years and $111 million remaining in his five-year, $251 million contract. The Suns tried to trade him this season to land Jimmy Butler but Beal has a no-trade clause. Ultimately, the Heat relented to trading Butler to the Golden State Warriors.
“I don’t believe you could trade [Beal],” Gambodoro added. “I think you go to the offseason and you try before to agree to any type of buyout or anything like that.”
However, buying him out is easier said than done because of the large money owed to him. But if and when the Suns find a way to get rid of Beal, he’s still a former three-time NBA All-Star guard who just didn’t fit next to two ball-dominant stars in Phoenix.
Bradley Beal Might Better Fit Outside Phoenix
Despite his clunky fit next to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, Beal still averaged 17.0 points on a 50/39/80 shooting split, 3.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and a team-best 1.1 steals in 32.1 minutes.
“I’ll take that guy for $15 million,” Gambodoro said. “I spoke with somebody in the NBA last night, and I was like, ‘Okay, let’s talk about where he’s going to go.’ He said, Miami, Denver, Golden State, possibly San Antonio. And this is somebody that’s in the know, and that’s what he said to me, Miami and Denver, two teams that he could go to if there was ever a buyout.
“He said also to keep your eye on Golden State and maybe the Spurs, depending on the next coach, because for the new salary — $15, $20 million a year, you could withstand Bradley Beal missing 20 games with injuries. You can’t withstand it when you’re losing a guy making $40, $50 million a year that’s going to go out. But for a $15, $20 million guy, and any team that gets Bradley Beal, can make an argument that he’d be a better fit for that team than the Suns in Phoenix.”
The Heat had no interest to trade for Beal when they were shopping Butler because of his expensive contract and his no-trade clause, ESPN reported. But if he comes at a cheaper contract after a buyout, Miami will likely jump at the opportunity to add Beal.
Bradley Beal Wanted Miami Over Phoenix Before Trade
When the Washington Wizards were ready to move on from Beal in the summer of 2023, Miami was atop his list of next teams.
The Heat chased Damian Lillard during that offseason but eventually lost him to the Milwaukee Bucks. So it left the door open for Beal to get to Miami. However, as it turned out his expensive contract was the deal breaker.
“So, my initial favorite was Miami,” Beal said in an interview with Andscape in 2023. “And so, we call Miami. [Miami president] Pat [Riley] says well I’ll go talk to [owner] Micky [Arison] and figure it out. So he goes, talks to Micky, we go, we hear back [New York] Knicks, Sacramento, Brooklyn a little bit, and then it was Milwaukee and it was one more big team … And that was kind of one of the most difficult things about every trade and every team. And I respect and love every team, but a lot of them just couldn’t do it because the money was just so high.”
