The first major domino of the NBA offseason fell as Bradley Beal was traded to the Suns on Sunday afternoon. After years of trade rumors involving the Wizards finally decided to move off Beal this off-season and fully committed themselves to a rebuild with new management taking over. 

Here’s the full trade details: 

Suns receive: Bradley Beal 

Wizards receive: Chris Paul

Landry Shamet

Multiple second-round picks

Multiple pick-swaps

Trade grades

Wizards: C+ 

Bradley Beal’s massive contract and no-trade clause made getting any value in return for him impossible. The contract extension was a clear mistake last year and Washington should have moved Beal when could have still gotten decent value in return. Beal’s no-trade clause also allowed him to control where he would go and roughly the return Washington got allowing Phoenix to keep Deandre Ayton in the process. Even given all these factors this package is certainly underwhelming for a player of Beal’s caliber. Chris Paul will be shipped elsewhere in return for expiring contracts or waived by Washington. A CP3-Clippers reunion has been heavily rumored. LA can package some combination of Nicolas Batum, Eric Gordon, Marcus Morris, and Robert Covington to Washington all of whom are expiring contracts setting up future cap flexibility for the Wizards. The Wizards new front office inherited an awful situation and had to fix the mistakes of the previous front office, well the value in this trade is disappointing committing to a long overdue rebuild is ultimately a positive thing. The Wizards rebuild will be bleak at first given their lack of quality young talent and the assets they received for Beal. However, Washington is now positioned to see what they have with their current young players including the number 8 pick in this year’s draft, and likely land a top pick in next year’s draft. 

Suns: B–

Getting Beal at this low of a price in a vacuum is great for Phoenix and strengthens an already absurd offense. The scoring potential of Booker, KD, and Beal is off the charts. The Suns are now going all-in on a title with this core in the next few years. However, this deal certainly carries a lot of risks. The Suns lock themselves into an expensive roster making themselves a second-apron team for the foreseeable future. With the second apron tax penalty going forward, the Suns will have little ways to improve an already thin roster. Trading Deandre Ayton for two quality rotational players seems like a no-brainer to me. A possible Ayton trade along with signing rotational players on cheaper deals this off-season would make me more optimistic about this trade. Surrounding Booker, KD, and Beal with quality defenders and playmakers is crucial in any off-season move. But it’s still unclear what Ayton’s value is and if Phoenix can find quality free agents with their cap challenges. The success of this trade hinges on Phoenix winning a title in the next few years. That could be a lot to ask given cap challenges along with the age and injury issues with both KD and Beal. Phoenix can win a title with this core it will of course be worth it however it could quickly backfire on them if they can’t win that elusive title.