Suns guard Bradley Beal and his agent Mark Bartelstein haven’t had any talks about waiving Beal’s no-trade clause to approve a deal to a new team, Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“There have been no discussions about trades with the Suns or any other team,” Bartelstein said. “Bradley’s total focus is on helping the Suns turn things around.”
As we outlined on Tuesday, Beal has been at the center of trade rumors as of late due to the reported mutual interest between the Suns and Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who is seeking a trade out of Miami. Phoenix is reportedly the only team willing to pay Butler the contract he wants and is believed to be the 35-year-old’s preferred landing spot.
Due to the Suns’ position relative to the second tax apron, they’re not permitted to aggregate salaries in a trade for Butler, meaning they would have to give up one of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, or Beal, all of whom have bigger cap hits than Butler’s $48.8MM figure.
Beal is the obvious choice of that trio from the Suns’ perspective, but his no-trade clause – one of just two in the NBA – complicates matters, as does his maximum-salary contract, which the Heat are reportedly unwilling to take on.
Phoenix has reportedly explored the market in search of a third team that would take on Beal, but any facilitator would have to be well compensated and the Suns, who would also have to incentivize Miami, don’t have many draft assets available to trade.
Speaking to Windhorst, Bartelstein didn’t rule out the possibility that Beal would waive his no-trade clause for a “perfect” situation, as he did when he was sent from Washington to Phoenix in 2023. But that isn’t currently under consideration.
It’s also worth reiterating that a no-trade clause doesn’t go away after a single trade — it covers a player’s entire contract unless he agrees to surrender it. Bartelstein tells Windhorst that his client wouldn’t be willing to give up that veto power before the end of the contract.
If Beal agreed to remove the no-trade clause from his contract upon being dealt, it might make a rival team more willing to roll the dice on him, since that club would have freedom to move him in a year or two. However, as long as Beal insists on hanging onto his NTC, it will make it that much more difficult for the Suns to find a taker.
Beals contract has to be the worst contract ever. Only his former teammates contract given to John Wall was worse. They really know what they are doing in Washington.
That NTC makes Beals contract so much worse. I can’t remember much worse than a max un-tradable contract for an ageing injury prone player who can pick and choose where he gets traded to, Wizards really are crazy…….. but are Suns any better by trading for him?!
A full NTC in a league with a salary cap is the dumbest possible thing a FO can do. Forget worst contact in the NBA, it might be the worst one in pro sports. Only Miguel Cabrera’s second extension and Albert Pujols’ Angels contract are comparable to this point.
Completely agree. I can’t think of any situation when an NTC should ever be offered. I get loyalty and showing appreciation, but trades are part of sport and athletes know that.
I can jive with a partial NTC, where you get to dictate a couple locations you don’t want to go to, but a full NTC is just a bad decision.
Strasburg is the worst.
I stand corrected. The idea behind it was more sound than any of the other three, though. Strasburg was still in his prime when his shoulder destroyed itself. Pujols and Cabrera were already in decline, and MLB doesn’t have a cap, so a NTC wouldn’t have hurt them as much as Beal’s does to the Suns.
To be fair, they were willing to trade him for some second round picks and have since re-set the roster and have some assets and flexibility. The Wizards front office had a rough decade or so before the Beal trade, but as a wizards fan it’s hard to complain about what they are doing right now. They have several very young future rotation pieces, draft picks, and some solid veteran role models on the roster who can be moved for more draft assets if the price is right.
Matt Ishbia has single-handedly run this organization to the ground
Ishbia makes Dan Snyder look look like a genius.
Ishbia bought the Suns in December 2022 and the collective bargaining agreement was approved on June 28, 2023 – 4 days after the Suns traded for Bradley Beal (though initial agreement on the terms was reached on April 1). I’m not saying there haven’t been mistakes, but some of this was just bad timing. When he traded for Durant he seemed like someone who was willing to spend whatever was necessary to win a championship. Then the owners and players agreed to a CBA that basically made it impossible to spend a team to a championship.
They knew the CBA was coming for over a year in advance. No excuse there.
They knew long before the sale of the team was approved that Beal was coming. Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein is the father of Phoenix Suns President Josh Bartelstein.
The Pistons could possibly come into play here. When Josh Bartelstein graduated from Michigan, Mark sent him to work for his buddy Arn Tellum, who is vice chairman of the Pistons. This is where Josh “learned” his current job. The Pistons have enough assets and cap space to help facilitate. The relationship between BOTH Bartelstein’s and the Pistons could factor. Not saying something is getting done, but the relationships exist here to work through what would be a tough trade to make happen.
Detroit is literally the last place most people with choices would choose to live. Brad Beal has a choice, and relationships aside, it seems unlikely that he would say “I know I bargained for a no-trade clause just so that I could choose where I go…and where I want to go is to Detroit.”
Detroit happens to be back in the Eastern Conference where Beal enjoyed his most success. Detroit is also on an upswing with Cade Cunningham playing like the franchise guy he was always supposed to be. Beal has a better chance at playing Playoff basketball with Detroit than he does in Phoenix. Same way Bartelstein had Beal waive the NTC to Phoenix ……. Memphis could have gotten around the NTC easily for Beal had they been interested. Memphis would put Beal a few hours from home in St. Louis.
We’ll see if a guy who literally cared enough about not be traded to negotiate for a no-trade clause waives it so that he can be traded and move his family to Detroit. I’ll put my money on “no”.
Of course, having an option year worth 50 plus million dollars well that is hard to give up. Man, some of them athletes wonderful salary packages bless them all…
I need to write a book – Jimmy Butler story with co-star Bradley Beal
This is what Heat want
Multiple qualified players contracts ended in summer 2026 or an all star with long term contract
This is the only issue – third team did not offer qualified players contracts ended in summer 2026
I blame the third team
Beal is a bench guy
It’s hilarious how people who are not from Detroit critique Detroit so loudly. Some of the wealthiest people in the country have homes in Michigan. I’m not ignorant to the fact that the Pistons have been poorly run for a nice minute, but Langdon could be the Piston’s version of Brad Holmes – time will tell.
Without first-round picks attached, the Pistons will avoid Beal like the plaque, he won’t have to avoid Detroit.