Bradley Beal, the star player for the Washington Wizards, made headlines recently when he revealed that he wanted to join the Miami Heat during the offseason.
However, it seems that Miami"s ownership showed minimal interest in acquiring him.
This news comes as a surprise, considering the success the Heat have had in recent years and their pursuit of another superstar player to pair with Jimmy Butler.
Instead, Beal ended up being traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he will form a new “Big 3" alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
With this powerhouse trio, the Suns are now considered one of the top contenders in the Western Conference and have high hopes of making it to the NBA Finals next June.
The Suns" rise to contender status began when they acquired veteran point guard Chris Paul in 2020.
However, their playoff run was cut short by the Denver Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokić, who went on to become the eventual NBA champions.
It was clear that improvements needed to be made to the Suns" roster, and the futures of players like Paul and center DeAndre Ayton were uncertain.
In the offseason, Ayton was eventually traded in a deal involving Damian Lillard, which brought the Suns several solid rotation players. But the real game-changer came when Beal was traded to Phoenix as part of the Chris Paul trade.
This move instantly elevated the Suns" chances of winning the NBA Finals, as they now had three of the league"s most feared scoring talents on their roster.
While the Suns ended up being a great fit for Beal, it is worth noting that they were not his first choice. In a diary installment on Andscape, Beal mentioned that the Miami Heat were on his radar, as they were actively looking for another star player to pair with Jimmy Butler.
So, my initial favorite was Miami. 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.
Bradley Beal said he wanted to join the Miami Heat but Miami’s ownership showed minimal interest
"My initial favorite was Miami. 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… pic.twitter.com/MIa5pXbLuS
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 23, 2023
However, it seems that the Heat, along with other teams, were deterred by the financial implications of taking on Beal"s expensive contract.
"You can't guard all of us at once."
Kevin Durant on the Suns' new big 3 of himself, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker 👀
(via @GeraldBourguet)pic.twitter.com/9fJGpCieLj
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 18, 2023
Additionally, it remains unclear what the Heat would have given up in exchange for Beal, as there were no reports of Tyler Herro being involved in any trade talks.
As for their current NBA Championship odds, the Suns sit at +650, while the Heat are at +250.
