Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Bucks would gain nothing from a Bradley Beal trade

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Jan 22, 2025 12:30 PM ET

As rumors intensify of the Suns positioning themselves to acquire Jimmy Butler from the Heat, Bradley Beal's future is up in the air.

Since Miami has no reported interest in acquiring Beal, a third team would need to enter the fray to facilitate the trade and potentially take on the $110 million left on his contract.

The Bucks could be that team, per multiple insiders.

There’s some buzz building around a potential Jimmy Butler trade framework including the Heat, Suns, Bucks and a facilitating fourth team.

Phoenix would receive Jimmy Butler. Milwaukee would receive Bradley Beal. Miami would receive Khris Middleton. Facilitator takes on salary. pic.twitter.com/0qTllhi5ba
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) January 22, 2025

According to a source familiar with Heat's plans this is one of the steps toward a Jimmy Butler trade. Picks plus likely a pair of players then would come to the Heat for Jimmy, in what will be at least a four-team deal and, quite possibly, more than that. https://t.co/vAwTPVTUae
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) January 22, 2025

On the surface, the Bucks won't have much to lose by trading an injury-prone Khris Middleton and a regressing role player in Bobby Portis for Beal. However, an undersized backcourt of Beal and Damian Lillard would be a disaster on defense for a team that is finally starting to improve in that area after a disastrous 2023-24 campaign.

This season, the Bucks rank No. 8 in defense and own the 10th-best perimeter defense, holding opponents to 35.5 percent shooting from three. The latter metric is a significant improvement from last season when they got torched by perimeter-based scorers.

Beal — a subpar defender for most of his career — could disrupt all the work Doc Rivers and Co. have done in instilling an efficient defensive scheme. This season, Beal has allowed guards Austin Reaves (87.5 percent), Tyrese Maxey (53.8 percent), Tyler Herro (62.5 percent) and Trae Young (62.5 percent) to destroy him while matching up against them.

It's his defense that cost him a starting spot with the Suns. Even on offense, Beal has regressed a lot from his days with the Wizards. He's averaging his fewest points (17.1) since the 2014-15 season and hasn't been the spark plug Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer hoped he'd be off the bench.

The Bucks would be better off targeting Cameron Johnson or even a player like Kyle Kuzma before bringing in Beal.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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