How Bradley Beal Performed in Suns Debut

Bradley Beal officially suited up in a Phoenix Suns uniform for the first time in the Suns 116-115 overtime triumph against the Bulls in Chicago last night.

Beal logged 24 minutes, right inside Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro's prediction of 23-27 minutes of game action.

While Beal suffered a scary fall in the second half of action and had an inefficient shooting night according to the box score, there were many signs of encouragement to take from his performance last night.

Shooting

Beal did have a rough 3-for-12 showing from the floor, though he knocked down 3-of-6 attempts from three point range, taking advantage of the gravity that Kevin Durant creates just by being on the floor.

Beal getting blitzed every time on these PnRs

As he shakes the rust off and gets back in game shape he’ll look a lot better against it, for example, that possession that was a missed pull up is an easy layup a couple games from now
— RB (@RyB_311) November 9, 2023

Beal's rough overall shooting performance can certainly be attributed to general rust, as the Bulls' coverages on him on drives led to some quite tough attempts, mostly from mid range.

The three-point shot being on point was the major takeaway, as the former Wizard struggled with the shot his last two seasons in D.C. The extra spacing and free-flowing system in Phoenix should be perfectly suited for Beal to show who he really is, especially as a shooter.

Bradley Beal is going to be getting a lot of looks like this in the Suns’ offense.

This is gonna be fun.pic.twitter.com/lSHX2YbuN9
— Suns Are Better (@SunsAreBetter) November 9, 2023

Playmaking

Beal wasn't getting as much attention as Durant, but his reputation as a former 30 PPG scorer in the NBA still seems to be holding strong.

The Bulls attack plan was to blitz Beal on pick-and-roll attempts, and he largely responded well. He only had four assists on the night, but the sheer amount of space that he created for others when sharing the floor with Durant was jarring.

He also generated a lot of good scoring opportunities even with the modest raw stat output.

Bradley Beal’s first assist as a member of the Phoenix Suns. pic.twitter.com/811B64iiSL
— Zona (@AZSportsZone) November 9, 2023

Defense

Beal wasn't exactly Alex Caruso on the defensive side of the ball, and that is totally fine. Beal was once known for being a decent defender, but his reputation on that end has worsened in recent years.

While Beal isn't a lockdown defender on the perimeter, he played strong team defense, a theme that has become common with this rendition of the Suns, especially in the half court.

Strong defenders such as Josh Okogie, Keita Bates-Diop, and Jordan Goodwin certainly make life easier, but Beal didn't do anything egregious and didn't become a pincushion for the Bulls' offense.

Overall Grade of Debut: B

Beal didn't do anything spectacular or eye-opening, but he showed flashes of the exact reasonings why Phoenix decided to bring him to the Valley.