Benched Bradley Beal refuses to be scapegoated for a game, reminds that he holds trade cards

While dissatisfied Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler admitted his joy was gone, a disruption that led to a team-executed suspension, tangentially related trade candidate Bradley Beal played with a spark of joy in his first time coming off the bench for the Phoenix Suns.

Don’t believe me? There was an Instagram post in the NBA meme all-caps template with “HIS JOY MIGHT BE BACK.” Like the juxtaposition of Beal’s play next to his admitted disappointment in the role change, it’s hard to tell whether the meme was done sarcastically or not.

Beal admitted after coming off the bench in a 109-99 win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday that moving to the bench was difficult to take.

“It’s kinda two-fold. I’m a star in the league, I firmly believe that,” he told reporters. “No disrespect to anybody, but I’m a starter. That’s what I firmly believe. Coach made his decision. I’m not going to sit here and argue with him.

“I’m not going to sit here and be a distraction. I’m not going to sit here and be an (expletive). He made his decision.”

For a single game at least, call him Manu Beal. Or Bradley Ginobili.

Beal scored 25 points to go with five assists off the bench and led the Suns in scoring against the 76ers. Maybe he and also-benched Jusuf Nurkic fall back to earth or start moping themselves, but the game showed the complexity head coach Mike Budenholzer took in shaking up his starting lineup.

It also reflected the risks versus rewards the Suns are looking at if they truly want to engineer some sort of trade for their $50 million man with a no-trade clause. Beal was asked about the speculation regarding his benching having something to do with trade possibilities.

“If so, I need to be addressed because I hold the cards,” Beal told reporters in Philadelphia. “Until I’m addressed and somebody says something differently, then I’m going to be a Sun.”

There is a risk if losses keep stacking and players’ dissatisfaction with roles keeps brooding.

More than anything on the court, the optics of a Beal benching points a neon pink sign at him that reads “SCAPEGOAT” even when the blame goes far beyond him.

It is eerie we did not hear Budenholzer or Beal speak of the Suns at least giving him a selling point as to why they are making a change — that Beal can operate like Manu Ginobili did for those San Antonio Spurs, or like Jamal Crawford did in his many NBA stops.

For a game, Beal carried his disappointment in Budenholzer’s decision to bench him as if he did receive some pitch. Not only did he lead the Suns in scoring, he kept himself in rookie Ryan Dunn’s ear before the game and during it, throwing his arm around the new regular starter.

“When it was announced and all that, my first thought process was him,” Beal said. “I’m so proud of him, (rookie Oso Ighodaro), all of those guys who come in and be impactful. I’m super proud of the young fella.”

Added Dunn on the Suns’ postgame show: “(Beal) told me to keep doing my job and no matter what happens throughout this whole season, just keep being you and don’t change.”

And onto basketball reasons, Beal’s and Nurkic’s move to the bench served its purpose.

Suns elongate rotation as Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic move to bench

If you believe this isn’t some way to showcase trade assets, then you can argue it helps the non-stars: rookies Dunn and Ighodaro, who closed the game alongside the Big Three, plus backup point guard Monte Morris, new starting center Mason Plumlee and wing Josh Okogie.

“This is a real decision,” Budenholzer said before the game when asked if the change was just a flash in the pan. “Life in the NBA and life in general, I don’t ever think you should paint yourself into corners. This is what we plan to do. We’ll continue to evaluate but I would not term this a day-to-day type thing. Again, we’re going to try to be our best.”

The Suns rolled legitimately 11 deep with their new blueprint, getting a hyper-aggressive Beal (10-of-15 shooting in 30 minutes) and Devin Booker (3-of-16).

Even though Booker had his worst shooting night in a while, it put the ball in his hands as he led the team in usage (26%) and assists (10), leaving Kevin Durant and Beal to pick their spots.

“We got a lot of stuff to deal with,” Durant told reporters of the lineup change. “I think that was a spark that we kind of needed to kind of wake us up a bit. We spoke as a team the last couple days about the team we wanted to be and what we wanted to see going forward.”

The Suns stretched the rotation in the right places and reinforced the flaws with support, such as giving the starting unit an energy defender in Dunn.

There’s enough spacing with Durant and Booker to help Dunn find offensive confidence, too. He scored 15 points with a trio of threes and some straight-line drives.

Perhaps hidden in the lineup-change agenda was Monte Morris getting 22 minutes of run, outpacing and outplaying Tyus Jones’ 20 minutes by finishing second to Beal in plus-minus (11).

With 42 minutes of true point guard play, the table was set for a fresh Big Three to close on Monday.

The Suns return to action Tuesday against struggling Charlotte (7-27) before a three-game homestand against Atlanta (18-18), Utah (9-25) and the Hornets again.

Then it’s back on the road trip that begins at the Hawks, at the Wizards (6-27) and then the Pistons (18-18).

It’s a stretch that should bear out whether or not this rotation is sustainable and provides answers. Or we get more of the same, and the Suns must determine how to get out of check.

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