TL;DR
- Bradley Beal's career has declined significantly since leaving the Washington Wizards in 2023.
- His two seasons with the Phoenix Suns saw reduced scoring and team playoff struggles.
- Beal's move to the Los Angeles Clippers has also been hampered by team performance and personal injuries.
- A season-ending hip surgery raises questions about Beal's future productivity at age 32.
The grass isn’t always greener.
Bradley Beal sought a departure from Washington in 2023, and he eventually achieved his goal. However, his career has been an unmitigated failure since his exit from the Wizards.
The forgettable two-year period with the Phoenix Suns marked the beginning. Beal joined Phoenix to complete a championship trio with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, yet the Suns never neared a title with them, and Beal's performance significantly declined from His Wizards' output.
During his two seasons in Phoenix, he scored an average of 17.6 points per game, a stark contrast to the 22.1 points per game he averaged over his 11 years in Washington. This decrease in output was anticipated, given that he was playing with two other prolific scorers in Durant and Beal.
The Suns were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves during Beal’s first season in The Valley, and they finished with a 36-46 record and missed out on postseason play completely last season. The lack of success frustrated everyone – Suns fans, the organization and Beal, who recently criticized the Suns for the way that he was used in Phoenix.
“When you allow me to be that guy, I’ll be that,” Beal said, via The Athletic. “But when you have two coaches that want you to set screens and play in the dunker, you’re not Brad Beal. You’re somebody else.”
Clearly, Beal’s experience in Phoenix left a bad taste in his mouth as he admittedly didn’t form the same kind of bonds in Phoenix that he did in Washington.
“For me, it was — no disrespect to Phoenix — but it was more meaningful for me to go back to D.C. And play, after being there for 11 years and that’s my franchise, you know?” Beal said after a recent return to Phoenix. “There’s no disrespect … but they have their way how they feel.”
Following his unsuccessful Suns stint, Beal signed a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers over the offseason, again hoping for an opportunity to be a key cog on a team with postseason expectations. However, the Clippers haven’t looked like a playoff team this season, as they’ve won just three of their first 10 games.
Beal appeared in just six of those games and averaged career-lows across the board: 8.2 points, 1.7 assists and 0.8 rebounds. He looked like a shell of the player he once was when he made multiple All-Star appearances as a member of the Wizards.
Now, Beal’s first season in L.A. Has officially come to an end, as he is set to address a fractured hip with a season-ending surgery.
"We met with numerous doctors and specialists around the country in collaboration with the entire Clippers medical staff over the last few days, and came to the decision unanimously that the surgery will allow Brad to have a full and complete recovery,” Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, said of the situation.
While the outlook following the surgery is positive, it’s fair to wonder just how much a 32-year old Beal will have left in the tank moving forward. The hope is that he can contribute, but to what extent?
Beal has a $5.6 million player option on his contract for next season, and given the surgery news, it seems likely that he’ll pick it up, as he probably won’t garner more on the open market. Perhaps he’ll be able to be a productive role player, but his days as a lethal scorer in the league appear to be behind him.
You can’t blame Beal for wanting to pursue other opportunities outside of D.C. Given the Wizards’ status as a perennial non-contender. Unfortunately for him, his career has been trending downward ever since he left The District.