Heat must step out of their comfort zone to beat Suns for Bradley Beal

The good news for the Miami Heat is that Bradley Beal seems to want to take his talents to South Beach. And considering he has a no-trade clause and will essentially get to decide what trade the Washington Wizards can take (if they opt to), it would appear Miami would have at least some leverage.

But the bad news for the Heat is that the team they're now competing against would allow Beal to join two top-tier stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the Phoenix Suns. In turn, Beal could easily view the Suns as more appealing, considering his addition to the roster would likely propel the team to the top of the list of favorites to win the 2024 NBA Championship.

To top it all off, when factoring in what the Suns are reportedly offering, there's certainly reason to believe both Beal and the franchise could see it as the more appealing option. As The Athletic's Shams Charania reports, along with a further-detailed breakdown of the reported offers by David Aldridge and Josh Robbins, also of The Athletic, the offers appear to have a different approach.

Per the reports, the Heat would send Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson and multiple first-round picks to the Wizards in exchange for Beal. On the opposite side, the Suns would send Deandre Ayton and either additional cap filler or Chris Paul and Landry Shamet to Washington. Specifically, it's been noted that the Heat is attempting to keep Tyler Herro out of the trade, which on the surface, could make or break the deal, at least from the Wizards' side and the impact on their team going forward.

Evaluating the Suns' reported package for Beal vs. Heat's package

The Suns' offer potentially including Ayton is a big piece that could be intriguing for the Wizards. An outlook that provides the Wizards with an instant-impact player like Ayton, who's also young and could very well have a higher ceiling, is a strong asset in this deal. Especially when factoring in that the Heat's reported offer without Herro features a veteran on the decline in Lowry and a player who, while he had a strong postseason, was out of the rotation for a portion of this past year in Robinson. The picks added by Miami are a nice addition, but they'd almost certainly wind up outside of the lottery.

Looking at the two rumored offers side-by-side, it's much easier to envision both the Wizards and Beal, assuming his interest in the Suns is high, both being open to working around that initial package. In turn, the Heat may wind up having their hand forced in the internal struggle with including Herro in the potential trade.

If Herro's name were added to the aforementioned package from Miami, it would become a lot more appealing, would likely require fewer draft picks and could rival the Suns' reported offer. Barring something big or the Wizards viewing the packages differently, it'd be a major surprise if the Heat didn't wind up needing to include Herro in their offer for Beal, assuming they can come to grips with the move.