The Phoenix Suns were trying to see if there were any teams that would take the star guard’s contract since he has a no trade clause. Oddly enough, the team that originally gave him the clause was willing to get him back.
The Washington Wizards had a very active front office during the 2025 NBA trade deadline which ended last Thursday. While the Wizards made numerous trades, sometimes the trades that don’t happen create just as many headlines.
Yesterday, Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that the Phoenix Suns were trying to facilitate trades that would send Jimmy Butler to them from the Miami Heat and send Bradley Beal to Miami, or another team. However, Beal has a no-trade clause, which he exercised to prevent a move to Miami. Ultimately. Butler was traded to the Golden State Warriors while Beal remained with Phoenix.
The Suns still tried to trade Beal though. In fact, two teams: the Atlanta Hawks and yes, the Wizards, were willing to acquire him in a trade. Here’s the snippet from Shelburne’s and Windhorst’s artircle.
Of all the teams Phoenix canvassed, sources said only the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks would consider taking on Beal if he’d waive his no-trade clause to go there. The Suns clung to that hope for weeks, hoping that if they could improve their package to incentivize these teams to participate, and other trades the Wizards and Hawks were working on fell through, then maybe there would be a path to a deal.
Even then, there was still the matter of whether Beal would waive his no-trade clause and accept the trade [to Atlanta or Washington].
During last night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Greg Finberg and Kevin Broom discussed this report and their thoughts regarding the Suns’ situation. You can watch their analysis in the video above. What are your thoughts on this trade-that-could’ve-happened-but-didn’t? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.