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On Wednesday, the Phoenix Suns officially bought Bradley Beal out of his mammoth contract, clearing the way for him to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent, per Shams Charania of ESPN. It wasn't exactly a successful tenure for Beal in the desert as the Suns failed to win a single playoff game in the two seasons the former All-Star spent in Phoenix.
Beal recently took to Instagram to post a very simple farewell message to Suns fans, dropping a peace sign emoji as the caption, which some fellow NBA players in the comment section found hilarious (per NBACentral on X, formerly Twitter).
“Aye man,” wrote newly signed Orlando Magic guard Tyus Jones.
“Not the deuces,” added Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young.
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo and Beal's former Suns teammate Kevin Durant both commented a single laughing emoji. Durant has since been traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for a package centered around Jalen Green.
A rough stint for the Suns
A large part of the reason why Bradley Beal's stint with the Suns felt like such a letdown was the fact that he wasn't able to stay on the court with much consistency, constantly dealing with injuries during his time in Phoenix.
However, even when he was in the lineup, the supposed three-headed snake of Beal, Durant, and Devin Booker did not wreak anywhere near the level of havoc on opposing defenses that was expected of them.
In fact, the failed experiment may very well have marked the end of NBA teams trying to acquire three “big-name” stars on maximum contracts in order to compete for championships instead opting for longer team-building approaches implemented by this year's finalists, the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Beal now joins a Clippers squad that bowed out in the first round last season after seven hard-fought games against the Denver Nuggets. Suns fans may secretly be hoping that that stint doesn't go according to plan either so that they won't be the only fanbase who feels they got shortchanged.
