It was never supposed to be like this.
When the Phoenix Suns traded for Bradley Beal in the summer of 2023, fans imagined a three-headed scoring hydra — Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal — an offensive supernova that could scorch the Western Conference. Instead, Beal’s Suns Era in the desert has felt more like a mirage: injuries, inconsistency, and long stretches of fourth-quarter irrelevance.
Even the most loyal fans quietly (and not so quietly) wondered: Was this just who Beal was now?