NBA insider Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press is reporting that the Miami Heat didn’t acquire Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards because of Beal’s no-trade clause.
Beal wanted to keep his no-trade clause with the Heat and Miami didn’t want to give the shooting guard a no-trade clause. The Wizards wound up trading Beal to the Phoenix Suns, who let the three-time All-Star keep his no-trade clause.
The big issue for the Heat when Bradley Beal hit the trade market was this — they did not want to give Beal the no-trade clause. Beal wanted to keep that power. And he did in the deal with Phoenix.
Beal signed a massive five-year, $251 million contract with the Wizards in July 2022. In a diary for Andscape, Beal confirmed that he wanted to play for the Heat.
“So, my initial favorite was Miami,” Beal wrote. “And so, we call Miami. [Miami president] Pat [Riley] says well I’ll go talk to [owner] Micky [Arison] and figure it out. So he goes, talks to Micky, we go, we hear back [New York] Knicks, Sacramento, Brooklyn a little bit, and then it was Milwaukee and it was one more big team … And that was kind of one of the most difficult things about every trade and every team. And I respect and love every team, but a lot of them just couldn’t do it because the money was just so high.
“I’m like, ‘OK, what’s Miami doing? Dragging feet.’ And eventually it came to a point to where Miami said they just can’t do it. But it was an eye-opener for sure.”
In 50 games for the Wizards last season, Beal averaged 23.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists while shooting 50.6% from the field, 36.5% from beyond the arc and 84.2% from the free-throw line.
The 30-year-old Beal has career NBA averages of 22.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists. The Suns are expected to start Beal, Devin Booker, Josh Okogie, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic this season. Beal is the only player in the NBA right now with a no-trade clause.