Agent says Bradley Beal has not talked about waiving no-trade clause

Bradley Beal and his agent haven’t discussed waiving his no-trade clause as the guard remains locked in on helping the Phoenix Suns turn their season around. That’s directly from agent Mark Bartelstein, who told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that Beal’s “total focus is on helping the Suns turn things around.”

Bartelstein, who is also the father of Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein, did not rule out the possibility Beal could waive the no-trade clause if a “perfect” trade situation were to arise. But the agent added that is not currently in the thought process.

Beal was asked Monday about his altered role in the context of Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler’s request to be traded and reported interest in joining Phoenix. Beal said after he came off the bench in a win against the Philadelphia 76ers that he and the team hadn’t addressed any potential trades.

“If so, I need to be addressed because I hold the cards,” Beal said, citing his no-trade clause. “Until I’m addressed and somebody says something differently, then I’m going to be a Sun.”

Beal, 31, has two years left on his contract worth $110 million. He is the only player other than LeBron James with a no-trade clause in his contract.

Windhorst said Tuesday on ESPN’s First Take that the Suns’ decision to bench Beal was a move to make Beal feel “unwelcome” so that he would begin considering lifting the no-trade clause.

“Let me put those rumors on Beal to rest,” Windhorst said. “They absolutely are trying to trade Bradley Beal. One of the cardinal rules in sports … is you never devalue your players, your assets. … They put him on the bench. You may say, ‘Why would you do that?’

“That’s because, guys, this situation is bleeped. The reason it’s bleeped is … the only way they can trade him is if he says, ‘I’m OK to be traded.’ So instead of trying to build him up, they have to violate the cardinal rule and put him on the bench. … They’re basically trying to make him feel unwelcome in Phoenix so that he will waive that no-trade clause. The player they want to trade him for is Jimmy Butler, but the Heat don’t want Bradley Beal.”

Beal scored 25 points off the bench with five assists Monday against the 76ers in Phoenix’s 109-99 win but followed that with 10 points and five assists in a 115-104 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, who entered Tuesday having lost 18 of their last 19 games.

Follow @kzimmermanaz