Following a disappointing finish and all-around difficult season with health in his first year with the Phoenix Suns, star guard Bradley Beal has one primary goal for the 2024-25 season.
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“This summer, I evaluated the year like you always do, one thing I didn’t do, and it’s my main focus and goal this year is have fun,” Beal said. “Have fun, right? The whole year, I’m frustrated. You’re trying to play catch up. You’re trying to prove that you want to be on the team, prove that you want to be on the floor, and you just never can really get two feet on the ground.
“Now, I have those two feet on the ground. I have no excuses. I’m very healthy. Going into a year with unbelievable team. Enjoy that, enjoy being where I am. Enjoy this unbelievable situation I’m in, the opportunity we have at stake. Just enjoy it, man, just have fun with it.”
#Suns Bradley Beal says his main focus this year is to have fun when reflecting back on last season pic.twitter.com/dASoUP9EY2
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) September 30, 2024
After being acquired from the Washington Wizards in June last year, the 31-year-old Beal finished his first year in Phoenix, averaging his lowest point total since his 2015-16 season at 18.2 points per game on .513/.430/.813 shooting splits, 5.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds across 53 games, as he was plagued by various injuries early in the season. The team’s Big 3 of Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant went 26-15 across 41 regular-season games played together.
In the offseason, a lot of Suns fans were stuck on Beal’s Game 4 performance in the Suns’ first-round sweep against the Minnesota Timberwolves, when he finished with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting (1-of-5 from 3), two assists and six turnovers (five in the fourth quarter), fouling out after playing 31 minutes. Beal, a three-time All-Star, called this performance a “s—- feeling” in his exit interview in April.
After a long summer, Beal’s mindset has shifted.
“I feel ecstatic right now,” Beal said. “I’m super excited, just to be able to, for me, have a good summer, to be able to mentally clear last year, like you said was a whirlwind. New environment, trying to fit in, get hurt, trying to fit in still, get hurt again, still trying to fit in.
“It’s like I never really got off to a good start. Now I get to do that, so everybody’s acclimated with each other, so we’re past that phase, and now we can just hit the ground running. We have a good coach, good new system, and there’s new energy. So it’s good for everybody.”
With the Suns not having a true point guard last season, Phoenix went out and added Tyus Jones this summer to be the team’s new starting point guard, something Beal, who rotated point guard duties with Booker last season, is really looking forward to.
“I can definitely go back to being the Brad we all had hoped,” Beal said. “I’m excited for sure. I still have some ball-handling responsibilities, but obviously not being the focal, primary point guard, which helps all of us. It helps me, helps Book, helps K, helps Grayson (Allen), and helps all of us because now we can go back to being in our traditional roles and flourishing with what we’ve done well that got us to this point in our careers.”
#Suns Bradley Beal on the addition of Tyus Jones
“I can definitely go back to being the Brad we all hoped” pic.twitter.com/bw9ymKEQrP
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) September 30, 2024
Beal will be making $50.2 million this year and has three years and over $161 million left on his contract, as he, Durant and Booker are all among the top-10 highest-paid players in the NBA. The Suns will have the first payroll in NBA history to exceed $400 million after luxury tax penalties.
The organization has a lot of hope for what Beal can do back in the position that made him the player he is today.
“Brad’s a player, so I think it’ll give him a little more balance where he can get to his natural position as a 2 guard, but it also helps him because the guys that we brought in are phenomenal playing off the ball, so he doesn’t have to lose the opportunity to be the primary initiator, ball handler and think aggressively offensively,” Suns president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones said.
“I think he’ll be in a really good spot. When you talk about sharing the game, I think the lessons that we learned last year, if you ask Devin and Kevin, is that they can do more to share the game because they trust and they know who they’re playing with. I expect Brad to be great and get back to that confidence level as an off guard that he’s always exhibited as a player.”
