The Golden State Warriors have been floated as one of the four potential landing spot 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 no-trade clause.
“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 as the Warriors’ Sixth Man?
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.”
If restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga prices himself out of Golden State in the offseason, getting Beal as a Sixth Man for a much cheaper contract is a no-brainer for the Warriors.
Steve Kerr: ‘Jonathan Kuminga Doesn’t Fit’
Kuminga’s future in Golden State became uncertain once the Warriors acquired Butler, who is a more experienced and much better version of the young forward. Like Beal’s overlapping skillset in Phoenix with his co-stars, Kuminga’s fit next to Butler is also as clunky as both of them are non-shooting wings.
“Every game is different and I think Jimmy’s arrival took away a lot of Jonathan’s minutes at the four,” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game’s Mark T. Willard and Dan Dibley on April 10.
“There’s no doubt that as soon as Jimmy arrived and we started winning, we leaned into the lineup combinations that enhanced Jimmy because we were winning and Jonathan was out for that whole stretch. We went like 17 and 3 or something, so we’re going to keep doing what’s been winning.”
Then Kerr finally addressed the big elephant in the room.
“But the lineup with Jimmy, Jonathan and Draymond doesn’t fit really well, frankly. It just doesn’t,” Kerr admitted. “We need more spacing. We’ve found other lineups that have clicked, and this is just part of the deal, being in the NBA, and you’ve got to adapt to whatever’s happening with the team.”
