Bradley Beal Inks With Los Angeles Clippers—Fantasy Basketball Winners and Losers
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The Phoenix Suns completed their summer housecleaning today, agreeing to a buyout with former All-Star guard Bradley Beal, as reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania.
BREAKING: Three-time NBA All-Star Bradley Beal has agreed to a contract buyout with the Phoenix Suns and plans to join the Los Angeles Clippers on a two-year, $11 million deal with a player option after clearing waivers, Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/gxZB0ObSms
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 16, 2025
The injury-prone 32-year-old, whose two-year deal clocks in at $11 million, will likely slide right into the starting lineup, giving the Clippers a potent backcourt pairing of Beal and James Harden.
Beal is L.A.’s second high-profile acquisition this summer, the other being former Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez.
If Beal can remain healthy—always a fair question—the Clips will be a player in the West…at least on the offensive side of the ball.
While Kawhi Leonard—another regular visitor to the trainers room—and Ivaca Zubac make for competent defensive front court, Beal and Harden will be a ball-stopping nightmare for Clips' head coach Tyronn Lue…but a mind-blowing dream-come-true for fantasy players.
How does this flurry of activity impact a given Clippers’ fantasy value? Let’s see who wins and who doesn't.
Winner: Bradley Beal
For the first time in his NBA career, Beal is just one of the guys, a third option behind Harden and Leonard who won’t be expected to carry the load, giving him a role similar to that of the recently departed Norman Powell.
With the pseudo-demotion comes lowered expectations, and with lowered expectations comes a lower fantasy draft spot, and with a lower fantasy draft spot comes value.
Last season, Powell was a top-50 fantasy option, wildly outplaying his preseason ADP of 128. Beal is a bigger, sexier name than Powell, thus he’ll probably be off the draft board in the fifth or sixth round, but if he’s still available in the seventh or beyond, he could be a league-winner—especially if Kawhi makes one of his annual trip(s) to the ER.
Loser: James Harden
The Beard’s 29.40% career usage percentage is the 19th-highest in NBA history, meaning he’s a ball hog of epic proportion.
But Beal has some ball hoggy tendencies of his own; his 27.03% has him coming in at 50th all-time.
Whether he likes it or not, Harden’s going to have to share the rock—at least a little bit—which will ding his fantasy value. He’ll still be an elite option, but it might not be wise to, as one would typically do, draft him in the first round.
Winner: Kawhi Leonard
Last season, the Claw posted his lowest scoring average (21.5) and his fewest boards (4.7) since the 2017-18 seasons. Even though his hustle numbers were in line with his career averages, he was far from a go-to fake hoops option, finishing 59th in fantasyland, behind the likes of Immanuel Quickley and Desmond Bane.
Leonard seems to perform better when he’s doesn’t have to be the Alpha Alpha Alpha Dog, and Beal should somewhat lighten his load. Like Harden, Kawhi could take a slight tumble in your draft, and if that does indeed happen in your league—if he sneaks into, say, the third round—pounce. But don’t be afraid to grab him in round two.
Losers: Kris Dunn and Bogdan Bogdanovic
Right now, you don’t want to be in the Dunn or Bogdanovic households, because you’ll be standing face-to-face with a bummed-out basketball player.
The two combo guards were near the top of the Clippers depth chart—Dunn was the likely starter at the two-guard, while Bogie would've likely been the sixth-man—but Beal’s arrival puts a significant dent into their respective playing time, thus in ten-man leagues, both will be either a late-round finger-crosser or a waiver wire wonder.
Then again, Norman Powell spent his fair share of time on the wire, and look how that shook out.
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-82121a1351894b8089c555f4b4b69420-1d609352940036e7455770363a74a2e9.png "Alan Goldsher")
Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.