Bradley Beal, remember him? Yes, we also prefer not to think about it too much. His time with the Phoenix Suns was a disaster, and the fact that he was limited to just 53 games in both of his seasons in The Valley didn’t help.
Unfortunately for Beal, things haven’t gotten much better since joining the LA Clippers. They’re in turmoil, doing the dirty on the Suns legend while he’s already out for the season with a left hip fracture. Ouch.
Grayson Allen has always been the perfect replacement for Beal.
It should come as no surprise that the Suns immediately upgraded Beal, but what we didn’t see coming (and we should have) was who would take on that role. That would be Grayson Allen, you know the guy who was on the roster all the time, just like Beal.
The Clippers added Chris Paul (40), Bradley Beal (32) and Brook Lopez (37) over the summer
All three free-agent signings are no longer in/out of the rotation pic.twitter.com/9NQ3Te9l6t
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 4, 2025
Allen already showed us he was the man for the position, too, when he stepped in when Beal was injured in his first season in Phoenix to become the team’s third-best player. Last season saw a huge decline, with Tyus Jones (another name we won’t talk about) ruining Allen’s flow.
But with a clear path back to a starting spot this season if healthy, this is the best basketball Allen has ever played. Now that he’s 30 years old, he knows exactly how to fit into what head coach Jordan Ott is trying to do. It also helps that he no longer has to submit to Kevin Durant, or even Devin Booker.
Instead, he makes Booker’s life easier out there, by being a secondary playmaker and also knocking down 43.8 percent of his efforts from deep. He has managed to do this by not only getting behind Booker, but also behind Dillon Brooks.
In other words, he has become exactly what Beal needed to become in Phoenix. The overqualified third option that is not a huge negative point defensively either. He has also been more durable than his former teammate, even with some injury issues this season and last.
Maybe the introduction of Jalen Green will change things, but for now the Suns’ solution to letting Beal go has worked by trusting Allen to produce. Maybe it’s a good move to trade him now when his value has never been higher, but it’s risky. Allen was sensational.
#Suns #reliable #version #Bradley #Beal