Tag: Bradley Beal

Four Gators on NBA rosters entering 2024-25 season

The 2024-25 NBA season is set to begin and a handful of former Gators are on NBA rosters to start the year. Several more have G-League hopes.

As October winds to a close, another NBA season begins, and four former Florida Gators are set to play in the 2024-25 campaign.

The most tenured Gator in the Association is Boston Celtics forward [autotag]Al Horford[/autotag], who is entering his 18th season (seventh with Boston). Horford was a key figure in the Celtics’ lineup en route to an NBA Finals appearance and world championship

He moved from a reserve role to the starting lineup last season when Kristaps Porzingis went down and has played in the starting five during the preseason. Horford is in the second year of a two-year deal with Boston, which could mean this is his swan song. Of course, there’s always a chance that he re-signs or joins another contender as a veteran leader.

Three-time all-star [autotag]Bradley Beal[/autotag] is the next name on the list. He’s entering his second season with the Phoenix Suns alongside fellow Big 3 members Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Beal is the third option and averaged 18.2 points and 5 assists per game last season, despite missing nearly 30 games due to injuries.

Beal would be the first to go if Phoenix decides to break up the trio that leads its high-powered offense, but that would come after a few months, perhaps closer to the deadline.

Point guard [autotag]Tre Mann[/autotag] was traded from Oklahoma City to Charlotte last season and put up career-high numbers in points (11.9 per game) and assists (5.2). Several NBA experts see this as a potential explosion year for Mann as he enters a contract year.

Power forward [autotag]Dorian Finney-Smith[/autotag] rounds out the list, entering his ninth overall season in the NBA and third with the Brooklyn Nets. Now over 30, DFS is a veteran leader on the Nets who is still solid at playing on both ends. He could also end up moving at the trade deadline given his versatility at the forward position

Gators who transferred before going to NBA

Andrew Nembhard is the only former Gator in the NBA who transferred before going pro. Nembhard finished his college career with Gonzaga and has spent the last two seasons with the Indiana Pacers, starting 110 of 143 games played.

Nembhard played in the Paris Olympics with Team Canada and signed a three-year extension with Indiana over the summer. His future is bright and Florida gets some credit for developing him at the start of his college career.

Former Gators looking to make rosters

A handful of former Gators should wind up in the G-League this year, including recently waived names such as Colin Castleton, Alex Fudge, Keyontae Johnson, Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel.

G-League rosters are still being figured out. Check back with Gators Wire for more updates if and when those players are signed.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Bradley Beal appeared to ignore a handshake from Suns coach Frank Vogel during season-ending loss

This looked very disrespectful by Beal.

The Suns were embarrassingly swept by the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs and it was an especially tough loss for Bradley Beal.

Beal was the biggest addition of the offseason for Phoenix but he struggled quite a bit during Minnesota. He had just nine points (4-of-13 FG) in the final game of the series, adding one rebound and two assists while also recording six turnovers.  He averaged 16.5 points in the series, which is far below his NBA career average.

It was a major disappointment and there was clearly some frustration. In the elimination game, after committing a foul in the third quarter, Beal seemingly ignored a hand shake from head coach Frank Vogel.

While it’s unclear exactly what happened here, this isn’t a great look. Beal and Vogel also had a heated exchange earlier in the series as well.

It is especially concerning when considering the recent report from Shams Charania and Doug Haller (via The Athletic):

“Frank Vogel entered the home locker room at Footprint Center and lit into his team. After his Phoenix Suns had fallen into a 35-4 hole en route to a loss to the LA Clippers on April 9, the head coach yelled so much that his voice could be heard outside the locker room. There was only one problem.

On this night, Suns players weren’t buying it. The outburst seemed forced and out of character in their eyes. It continued at the next day’s shootaround in Los Angeles, Vogel tearing into the Suns before that night’s road win over the Clippers. Vogel’s eruption left players rolling their eyes, sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic. One player even told The Athletic he had to keep from laughing.”

Beal has insisted that he and Vogel are on good terms, but moments like this do not help the narrative.

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Suns offseason primer: Eric Gordon, Frank Vogel and the Big Three

Trading for a trio of true superstars is not supposed to result in a limp 4-0 first-round playoff exit. But here we are. After Sunday night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 2023-24 NBA season for the Phoenix Suns – who were supposed to be a …

Trading for a trio of true superstars is not supposed to result in a limp 4-0 first-round playoff exit. But here we are.

After Sunday night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 2023-24 NBA season for the Phoenix Suns – who were supposed to be a “super team” – has come to an ugly end. Never once getting close to the presumed sum of their parts, disjointed performances, turnover problems, athleticism disadvantages and roster imbalances led to an early departure for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.

Phoenix’s 49-33 regular season record, which was supposed to be below what they would prove to be capable of when the playoffs rolled around, turned out to be the high point. At no point was the season much of a fun one for their fanbase, not compared to what was imagined. And so now for the team’s brain trust comes the tough task of accepting failure for the squad they put together without admitting defeat for the idea behind it.

Not helped by an improved Western Conference, the Suns were nevertheless supposed to challenge for the NBA Finals when they added Bradley Beal in a needle-moving trade with the Washington Wizards last June, four months after adding the Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets. Such moves were supposed to be so impactful as to generate discussions about fairness, equity and collusion, not about whether they could steal a game from the Wolves before skulking home.

Nevertheless, it has all happened now, and from the minute the season ends, it is time to start looking forward. Here follows a look at the Phoenix Suns’ roster and spending heading into the 2024 NBA offseason.

The most overpaid NBA players of 2023-24 (so far)

HoopsHype presents the most overpaid and underperforming players in the NBA for 2023-24, including Klay Thompson, Bradley Beal and more.

If there’s one thing the casual NBA fan knows about the modern NBA, it’s that the league’s current generation of players is getting paid quite handsomely.

That does lead to some unfair, over-the-top criticism of current NBA players and the league’s health at large… and we’re going to add to that discourse today (sorry!) by taking a look at the most overpaid NBA players of the 2023-24 season.

To do so, we’re using our Real Value metric, which uses Global Rating (learn about our player-rating metric here) to determine how much each NBA player should be earning, salary-wise, based on their raw statistics, games played and team success. Once we had each player’s Real Value, we compared that number to their actual salaries to determine who the most overpaid NBA players of 2023-24 are in a fair manner.

Find the results below.

Gregg Popovish praises Suns star trio after Spurs loss

After the San Antonio Spurs’ loss to the Phoenix Suns, Gregg Popovich praised Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal.

The San Antonio Spurs welcomed the Phoenix Suns to town on Saturday night for their sixth home game in a row in the midst of a seven-game homestand. They were hoping to snap a two-game losing streak against a Suns squad whom they had already beaten twice this year – in back-to-back games at the very start of the season.

Unfortunately, this time around didn’t yield the same results. The Spurs lost to the Suns by a score of 131-106, as the Suns’ Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal showed out. They were too much for the Spurs to handle.

After the game, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich showed love to the trio of stars. (H/t ESPN)

“I thought we had a little more contact and physicality in the second half, but you’re not going to stop Book and K.D. from doing what they’re doing and Bradley’s healthy now,” Popovich said. “That’s a pretty tough trio. Our guys did everything they could, and you move on.”

Booker finished the game with 32 points, Durant had 25, and Beal had 13.

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Devin Booker’s ankle injury might condemn the Suns to the play-in tournament

This is NOT good for the Suns.

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.

Devin Booker suffered an ankle injury and the timing is truly horrendous.

According to Shams Charania, the Phoenix Suns star guard will miss “at least” the next seven to ten days. During that time, the team will have an uphill battle.

They will face the Nuggets on the road on March 5, which is never easy. Next up is a potentially winnable game against the Raptors (March 7) before the challenge intensifies against the Celtics (March 9) at home. They then travel to play the Cavaliers (March 11) and then another game against the Celtics (March 14).

Those could easily result in four out of five losses as Denver, Cleveland and Boston are three of the most intimidating teams in the league. But even when Booker returns, it’s not going to get any less difficult.

Phoenix has the most difficult remaining strength of schedule in the league this season, per Tankathon and Basketball-Reference. Here is more analysis from John Schuhmann (via NBA.com):

“The Suns have the league’s toughest schedule in regard to cumulative opponent winning percentage and the most remaining games (17) against teams that enter March with winning records, currently 16-16 within that group. Thirteen of those 17 are against the seven teams with better records than they have, and they’re just 2-5 against those seven teams thus far.”

The Suns have played pretty well with Booker on the floor this season, via PBPStats, outscoring opponents by 5.7 points per 100 possession. But they are getting outscored by 2.3 points per 100 when he is off the court.

Booker’s impact is significant and his on-off swing currently ranks in the 89th percentile among all players, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Even in the minutes with his co-stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal but no Booker so far this season, Phoenix has gotten outscored by 6.7 points per 100 possessions.

All things considered, despite the fact they have the third-most expensive payroll in the league, matters look fairly bleak for the Suns right now.

There is a 77.2 percent chance that Phoenix makes the play-in tournament, according to dunksandthrees.com. Projections from Basketball-Reference are even higher, slating the likelihood at 81.2 percent.

That isn’t great considering how many future assets the front office has given up to make themselves a win-now contender, especially as Durant gets older at 35 years old.

With all that in mind, however, the star-driven Suns are still not a team that many would like to face in the opening rounds of the playoffs in the Western Conference.

Caitlin Clark makes history

We have had so much incredible Caitlin Clark content on our site over the last few days. After the Iowa star broke the Division I college basketball all-time scoring record, let’s review some of our coverage!

  1. Caitlin Clark had the classiest quote reminding everyone that she and her Iowa teammates are human.
  2. This wild Caitlin Clark stat proves just how unbelievable her 3-point shooting range is.
  3. Nike’s Caitlin Clark commercial right after her record-breaking points was the perfect tribute.
  4. Caitlin Clark became the NCAA all-time scoring leader in the most unlikely way possible
  5. Caitlin Clark was so giddy after a surprise meeting with her childhood idol Maya Moore

Shootaround

— Mics caught how Nikola Jokic hilariously teased LeBron James before he scored 40,000 points

— HoopsHype reviewed the funniest moments of Inside the NBA history

— Should the Sixers continue to start Kyle Lowry alongside Tyrese Maxey?

— Western Michigan completed the most unbelievable cross-court bounce pass to top Ball State at the buzzer

Led by Ime Udoka, Rockets show physical, mental toughness in battles versus Suns

“It was good to see that fight and physicality,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after Saturday’s win in Phoenix. “It was obviously night and day from the last game.”

PHOENIX — In an odd scheduling quirk with created three games against the same opponent in a nine-game span, the Houston Rockets had their mental and physical abilities challenged by the Suns. There was consistent trash talk from All-Star guard Devin Booker, whose words are almost as verbally abusive as his physical style of play.

Yet, the one thing the Suns may not have considered is this isn’t the same Rockets team from previous years. Those teams might have let Phoenix get away with some of those on-court bullying antics, which are meant to get inside the heads of opposing players and throw them off. However, this veteran-led Houston team quickly adopted a mindset and culture that no one would bully it.

Over those three games, Houston went 2-1 versus a high-powered offense led by Booker and Kevin Durant, and a Suns team (35-25) that ranks sixth in the Western Conference standings. More importantly, Saturday’s win broke a nine-game road losing streak.

“I like the fight; I like the intensity,” said Rockets guard Fred VanVleet. “We are a young team, and we have to use that energy to our advantage, and we are not getting punked by anybody, so that is definitely not going to happen. We bring that fight. If things get chippy, that means that both teams are playing hard.”

The back-and-forth between the two teams started last week in Houston when rookie Cam Whitmore and Booker engaged in a small skirmish that had been building throughout the game as both players took opportunities to exchange words up and down the court. One week later, the bad blood boiled over in Phoenix when the two engaged in another heated exchange during Thursday’s fourth quarter.

“I like it,” Booker said of Whitmore’s approach after the second incident. “I’ve been in these situations plenty of times before. I was that same, young player doing that same thing. I remember doing it to Jimmy Butler my rookie year, him going in the postgame talking about me. You never want to back down, and I respect going at a top player. You just gotta be ready for it.”

On Saturday, the Suns were back to their bullying tactics, with veteran guard Bradley Beal seeming to follow his teammates’ lead. This time, he was quickly ejected after getting into a shoving match with Houston’s Jalen Green, who was giving the Suns fits on his way to a second straight 34-point scoring outburst.

One game after Houston had its worst shooting performance of the season (33.7% FG) — and trailed by 16 points in the first quarter — they took control of Saturday’s game early by scoring 38 points in the first quarter. That set the tone for the remainder of the night.

“It was good to see that fight and physicality,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said postgame. “I think we had that from the start. It was obviously night and day from the last game, when we got off to a poor start. Tonight, we kind of jumped on them, and they had to struggle to come back. Everything they threw, we took it and made big plays when we had to. I loved our physicality and aggressiveness and throwing bodies around.”

Houston (26-34) goes home for a quick back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday and the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday before heading back on the road this weekend.

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14 most surprising omissions (Tyrese Maxey!) from the 2024 USA Basketball men’s player pool

Unless these players denied invitations, these are some very shocking decisions by Team USA.

USA Basketball announced a 41-athlete player pool as candidates for the Paris Olympics roster. Eventually, 12 players will make the final cut.

Among the 12 names that we initially projected to make the roster after the 2023 FIBA World Cup, 11 appeared on the first list. Those players were LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges.

A few notable All-Stars to also earn invitations include Chris Paul, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Trae Young, Jrue Holiday, De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jarrett Allen.

The other players were Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Brunson, Alex Caruso, Aaron Gordon, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson and Derrick White.

Two players who we did not include in our surprising omissions were Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. While both of these players may have helped the team on the court, they have faced off-court issues that made invitations unlikely — plus Morant is currently injured.

Otherwise, these were the most surprising omissions from the list:

Bradley Beal begs Wizards owner Ted Leonsis not to move the team from Washington to Virginia

“You can’t take the team out of D.C.,” Bradley Beal said.

The Washington Wizards and Capitals are planning to move out of D.C. and across the Potomac River to Alexandria, Virginia and into a 70-acre “entertainment district” set to be completed by 2028.

And former Wizard Bradley Beal, like many D.C. sports fans, would prefer his old team stay in the city it represents, which is extremely reasonable and fair. Should the Wizards and Capitals leave Washington, they’d join the Commanders as D.C. teams not actually based in D.C.

In a video diary entry for ESPN’s Andscape, Beal basically begged Ted Leonsis — whose Monumental Sports owns both Washington franchises — to keep the teams in D.C.

RELATED: Everything we know about the Wizards and Capitals proposed move from Washington to Virginia

As we previously explained, money is playing a large role in this expected move. Both teams currently play at Capital One Arena, and Leonsis wants a renovation, asking the city to pay for $600 million of the $800 million project, The Washington Post noted. Not making progress with D.C., Leonsis, it seems, went to the adjacent state.

Beal acknowledged the financial situation, but he made his case to the Wizards and Capitals owner.

To Andscape, Beal said:

“D.C., there is no moving to Virginia. What is that? Ted, we love you to death. We understand what you want to do and [are] trying to do. But you can’t take the team out of D.C. It’s Chocolate City. We need, as a league, we gotta keep that. D.C. — it has to stay in D.C.

“Now, the money? Listen, that’s out of my hands, that’s out of my controls. I ain’t got nothing to do with that. Hopefully [Washington D.C.] mayor [Muriel] Bowser can work something out with you. I don’t know. I don’t know. I hope the team stays. I think it’s good for the city. Think it creates a little bit of a problem, just my personal opinion, if it moves to Virginia.

“It’s probably similar to how people felt when [the Washington Commanders] moved to Maryland. It is a tough thing. I think we just got to get everybody back to D.C. Just rebuild RFK Stadium, rebuild Cap One [Arena]. Just keep it in the city. We can make it happen. They can make it happen. They can make it happen.”

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Report: Suns’ Bradley Beal (back) targeting return vs. Warriors on Tuesday

The Warriors could see Bradley Beal with the Suns for the first time on Tuesday.

After suffering a rough loss in overtime to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Golden State Warriors.

On Tuesday, the Warriors travel to the desert to meet the Phoenix Suns in a star-studded contest. Tuesday’s game could feature the return of a missing piece of the Suns’ new-look big three.

Bradley Beal could make his highly anticipated return to the court after missing 12 games with a back injury. Beal missed the first seven games of the season with the same injury.

Via @ShamsCharania on Twitter:

Beal has played only three games this season, averaging 17.3 points on 39.1% shooting from the field to go along with 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Injuries have stopped the Suns’ trio of Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker from playing together this season.

The Warriors meet the Suns on Tuesday in Arizona at 7 p.m. PT.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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