Bradley Beal hasn't suited up for the Phoenix Suns since he missed their preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers back on October 12. While there were no indications back then that the back injury he was dealing with at the time was anything serious, it's certainly looking as though this knock will linger far longer than anyone initially expected.

According to Duane Rankin of Arizona Republic, Beal's back injury “is a concern” and that there's no definitive timetable for his return. Moreover, Rankin wrote that Beal “hasn’t been right for weeks”, and that he's further away from a return to action than Devin Booker is, who himself doesn't have a definite return date.

While this injury update is definitely concerning for the Suns, they'll take solace in that Bradley Beal is dealing with injury woes at this juncture of the season, not come April when the playoffs are beckoning. This, of course, should encourage the Suns to exercise caution with Beal, as the regular season isn't a sprint, but rather a marathon.

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To those concerned about whether or not Beal and the Suns are merely managing the shooting guard's workload this early in the season, this appears not to be the case, with the 30-year old guard genuinely dealing with an injury to his back. After all, Rankin also noted that Beal is “chomping at the bit” to play, but he simply isn't capable of doing so at the moment given his physical limitations.

Handling this in the ideal manner will be essential for the Suns' hopes of becoming one of the best teams in the association. Bradley Beal isn't the most durable star in the NBA in the first place; he has dealt with plenty of injury woes back in his time with the Washington Wizards, suffering plenty of knee, hamstring, and hip injuries throughout his career as well as a wrist injury that ended his season in early 2022.

In Beal's absence, expect the Suns to continue relying on a combination of Eric Gordon, Grayson Allen, and Jordan Goodwin to fill in most of the minutes at both guard positions.