How the Bradley Beal trade impacts the Suns roster and options to build it

The Suns' trade package that netted Bradley Beal came as a shock to many.  ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that they would be sending Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, multiple second-round picks, and pick swaps in a deal to be completed at a future date. 

At first glance, that doesn't seem like a ton to give up for a player of Beal's caliber, bad contract or not. The Suns were trying to get off Paul's deal anyway, and Beal put up 23 points on great efficiency last season. That didn't stop the deal from having mixed reactions. 

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There are certainly worthwhile concerns for the Suns multiple years down the line when an aging Beal will be making $57.1 million in 2026-27. But for next season, this deal gave the Suns more championship upside.

How is Bradley Beal going to fit on this roster? 

Beal isn't the perfect superstar to fit next to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. But perfection is the enemy of progress. Beal's shot creation is one of his most valuable skills and it won't be very necessary on this roster. Put that aside — he can still help a ton as an off-ball threat.

Beal's shooting percentages have dipped in the later years of his career — he's hit just 34.5 percent of his 3's over the past four seasons. That was largely a result of the quality of his looks. He's had to create a lot off the dribble for mediocre Wizards offenses. Compare that to his first seven seasons playing alongside John Wall, where his usage was sub-30 percent and his 3-point percentage was a much better 38.4 percent. 

We already saw in small spurts last season that having Durant log some possessions as a stationary shooter in the corner put teams in impossible binds. Booker and Beal can play that same role. The Suns are going to have an embarrassment of riches that will make it impossible for defenses to shrink the floor. 

One reasonable criticism of this deal is that Beal's defense at its current level is going to be an issue for the Suns. He's gone from a pretty good defender earlier in his career to a liability. But with a better team and much less offensive load (he's been top-five in usage in two of the past four years), it's fair to think that he can recover to at least an average defender. 

Beal is also going to be good insurance for a potential Durant injury in the regular season. Going into his age-35 season, Durant needs to keep his minutes down. He has yet to play more than 55 regular season games in the three years since tearing his Achilles. 

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How much money do the Suns have left to spend on their roster?

Now for the elephant in the room. The Suns are going to be extremely constrained in how they add around Booker, Durant, Beal, and Ayton. Those four alone account for $162 million in salary, ensuring that they will be deep into the tax. 

Wizards guard Jordan Goodwin is likely being included in the deal, per The Athletic's Josh Robbins. He may not be known to fans outside of Washington, but he's an important addition and a good young player. He's a tough defender that rarely makes mistakes with the ball. He should get a lot of burn for the Suns. 

As for the other 10 roster spots that the Suns will have to fill, they will likely be limited to either minimum signings or bringing back their own free agents. They already had problems with depth last season, and that is the big challenge that will hover over them for the rest of the summer. 

What are the best options for the Suns to fill out the rest of their roster with?

Booker showed that he may be capable of playing point guard after Paul's injury in the playoffs. He will have to play there a lot, because point guard depth is going to be an issue on this roster.

Cameron Payne wasn't a great backup for Paul, but he's on a non-guaranteed $6.5 million salary and will likely have to be brought back. Some other possible veteran free agent options on the minimum include Reggie Jackson, Dennis Smith Jr., Ish Smith, Goran Dragic, or Raul Neto.

The Suns are going to have to bring back most of their other free agents too, because they likely won't be able to find better replacements on minimum salaries. That means that Torrey Craig, Jock Landale, and Bismack Biyombo will also probably be back.

The Suns should also try and retain Damion Lee, Josh Okogie, Terrence Ross, and T.J. Warren, but they are very limited in how much they can offer those four. They own Non-Bird rights on that group, meaning that they can only go up to $2.4 million dollars per player in the first years of their deals. 

There are going to have to be some bottom-of-the-barrel minimum signings to fill out the rest of the roster. Maybe they get some veterans who see a good opportunity to ring chase or improve their value hitting open shots next to the Suns' stars.

A Yuta Watanabe reunion would be good to see with Durant. Does Danny Green still have anything left in the tank? At 35, would Joe Ingles come on a minimum deal after a promising comeback year with the Bucks? It's hard to find good shooters on the minimum, and that will be the task in front of them. 

MORE: How Bradley Beal deal impacts Heat's pursuit of Damian Lillard

Suns projected depth chart

The Suns will add some as-yet-unknown fresh faces to their roster and might not be able to keep all of their free agents. But here's a preliminary look at what their depth chart might look like going into next season.

How good will the Suns be?

I like this move for the Suns. They did sacrifice some avenues for adding depth, but how many quality role players were they realistically getting with the paltry package that they sent out for Beal anyway? There's also still the possibility of breaking Ayton's contract up into multiple pieces, which the team should explore. The Pacers have role players and showed interest in Ayton previously — maybe there's something there involving Buddy Hield. 

The Suns are going to be in a world of pain as Beal and Durant's deals grow bigger while their production declines. But really, who cares?

Way too much is made of future problems during championship windows. These windows are fleeting, and it sometimes takes decades along with a ton of luck to reopen them. Given Durant's age, the Suns were already working on a tiny timeline — they're not holding anything back.

The Suns have never won a championship in their franchise's history. The competition is going to be fierce in the West, and they just made the most aggressive move they could to break that streak. For that, they deserve praise.