It seems that the struggling Phoenix Suns are desperate to try and save their season. So much so that they have just benched two starters making a combined $68 million this season for a rookie and a player on a minimum contract.
According to Chris Haynes, the Suns benched Bradley Beal as well as Jusuf Nurkic after losing their fourth straight game and dropping to 12th in the Western Conference. That move is indeed drastic but not unwarranted.
Sources: In midst of 4-game losing streak and tension in locker room, Phoenix expected to make drastic change by removing Bradley Beal, Jusuf Nurkic from starting lineup beginning Monday at Philadelphia. #haynesbriefs pic.twitter.com/utz0FNLppB
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 6, 2025
Nurkic's play in particular has come under fire, with many believing that the Suns need to move on from him to be able to upgrade the center position. With very few trade assets and virtually no tradable picks, that move may be next to impossible. As a result, the Suns made the only decision available to them at the moment by benching Nurkic in favor of Mason Plumlee.
Meanwhile, Ryan Dunn will start for Beal, and while he isn't the same level of offensive player, he has a chance to be a high-level three-and-d player. In fact, Dunn was one of the best defensive players in college basketball last season.
The hope is likely that he will help to stabilize their 25th-ranked defense by joining the starting five. Whether these moves will help the Suns will take some time, but it is clear that changes were needed.
NBA Rumors: Will the Phoenix Suns make a trade after benching Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic?
The Suns are severely limited in the trade market due to them being in the second tax apron. That means that they can't combine salaries in a trade, and they don't have many tradeable picks to attach to get a team to take back Beal and Nurkic. This was a predictable outcome since they raided their draft stockpile to trade for Kevin Durant and Beal, even though Beal was on the wrong side of 30, injury-prone, and declining.
His contract has 3 years and $170 million remaining, and he also has a no-trade clause, meaning that he can veto any trade. Finding a team that is crazy enough to be willing to back his contract and that he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to play for is going to be next to impossible.
That is unless Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler tries to steer his way to the Suns, but the Heat are seemingly unlikely to want to trade Butler for a player on a bad contract who was just benched. Moving Nurkic may also be difficult, especially after he was just benched too. As a result, the Suns will likely have to hope for the best with these moves to get their season back on track.