Suns Guard Bradley Beal Ranked as Third-Best Player to Change Teams
Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal was the biggest offseason addition to a team that made numerous changes after exiting the postseason in earlier-than-anticipated fashion.
Beal was acquired from the Washington Wizards in a deal that involved point guard Chris Paul, marking a shift in personnel and philosophy for a team still looking to capture their first franchise championship.
There's hope the Suns will be able to do that, largely thanks to Beal's presence alongside names such as Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
The Suns added a talented scorer in Beal, and though he's not exactly your traditional point guard, he figures to slot in Phoenix's lineup quite well.
Behind Kristaps Porzingis and Fred VanVleet, Beal was ranked as the No. 3 player to land on a new team by Bleacher Report:
"Bradley Beal is a tremendous offensive talent. If that was all we were evaluating, he might be a lock for the No. 1 spot," wrote Zach Buckley.
"He has tailed off a bit since posting back-to-back 30-plus-point scoring seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21, but that just means he's gone from being a great scorer to a very good one. Throw in his above-average distributing (5.5 assists per outing over the past five seasons), and you'll find a stat sheet like few others. Over the past two seasons, he's one of just 10 players to average at least 23 points, five assists and 1.5 three-pointers.
"Two obstacles prevent him from ranking any higher, though.
"The first is leaky defense. Perhaps not having to carry such a heavy offensive load in Phoenix will allow the 30-year-old to give better effort on the game's less glamorous end, but we'll need to see it before we believe it.
"The second is his so-so efficiency. For an offensive specialist with a fiery jumper, his percentages don't quite land high enough. Among the 28 players to average at least 23 points over the past two seasons, only four have a worse true shooting percentage than Beal's mark of 56.8."
Beal finished above Chris Paul and Marcus Smart to round out the top five.
