It wasn’t too hard to connect the dots. The Phoenix Suns, having just seen the Milwaukee Bucks boldly explore new horizons in Willingness to Eat Dead Money, were suddenly considering using the stretch provision in the NBA/NBPA collective bargaining agreement to bring an end to the execrable Bradley Beal experiment. The Los Angeles Clippers, having just traded Norman Powell in a three-team deal to bring in power forward John Collins, were suddenly in need of a new shooting guard.
As clean as the transition from Arizona to California seemed from the outside, though, Beal reportedly had interest from a number of suitors interested in buying low on a three-time All-Star who might not have lived up to his old contract, but had a chance to be a steal on a dramatically smaller one. Securing Beal’s services, then, would require an assist. Luckily, the Clippers already employ a guy who specializes in those.
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With Beal nearing a buyout agreement that would allow him to reach the unrestricted market, All-NBA point man James Harden became “the key voice” in the Clippers’ pursuit of the soon-to-be-former Suns guard, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, working both L.A.’s front office and Beal himself to play matchmaker and consummate the deal:
Harden sold Beal on the Clippers’ depth and talked about how he would work well with Powell, who had a career-best season playing alongside Harden after replacing Paul George in the starting lineup last season.
He outlined how the Clippers had embraced and helped him pivot in his career after disappointing runs in Brooklyn and Philadelphia damaged his reputation. Beal, coming off a disappointing run in Phoenix that had similarly stunted his value across the league, could relate.
Harden even took the unusual step of speaking with [Beal’s agent] Mark Bartelstein after all parties, including Harden’s agents, approved the conversation. Recruiting a star peer is commonplace in the NBA; recruiting another agent to get on board is not.
“No one wants to be released. There’s heartache with that,” Mark Bartelstein said. “But Bradley wants to be in a position where no one remembers he got released, that they’ll remember how he plays next season.”
If Beal can play something like Powell played last season, when the former Raptors and Trail Blazers swingman put up career-best scoring numbers while shouldering a heavier shot-creation workload than ever before, then they just might. If he can, then Harden — who dished 114 dimes to Powell last season, the 19th-most-frequent assist combination in the NBA, according to PBP Stats — could be well on his way toward a fifth straight top-five finish in assists per game at the controls of an L.A. offense that scored at a top-10 clip after Kawhi Leonard made his season debut in early January. (It’s also worth noting that, while Beal has played alongside superstars like Russell Westbrook, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant over the past several seasons, Harden is by far the best pure playmaker he’ll have shared the court with since peak pre-injury John Wall … and that, when Beal was regularly seeing that kind of service, he looked like a bona fide future superstar.)
If that happens, then a Clippers team that won 50 games and pushed the Nuggets the distance in the opening round of the 2025 postseason could prove an even tougher out next spring … and Beal, who will hold a player option for the 2026-27 season, will put himself in position to re-enter the market in search of a much more lucrative payday this time next summer.
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If you’re thinking that looks like a lot of ifs … well, you’re not alone. Such is life when you’re talking about former superstars with injury histories on the wrong side of 30 hoping for a fresh start after a $45 million reduction in salary. The game’s not played on paper; the Clippers will need to connect the dots for themselves on the court. Beal’s arrival gives them another opportunity to add to the bigger picture, though — and for that, it seems, they have their bearded table-setter to thank.
