In fact, with the "Duke combination", the Suns should not have brought in Beal at all

In the 21 playoffs, the Suns, under the leadership of "Booker + Paul + Ayton", eliminated the Lakers, Nuggets, and Clippers all the way out of the West. It's a pity that the Suns didn't win the championship in the finals against the Bucks that year.

After that, although the Suns had a good regular season record, with the rise of teams such as the Warriors, Lakers, Nuggets, and Mavericks, they are getting farther and farther away from the championship, which is the key reason why the management resolutely brought in Durant last season.

Because with Durant's ability and form, his addition may not improve the team's regular season record further, but it can raise the Suns' ceiling and make them more competitive in the playoffs. It's just that no one expected that even with Durant, the Suns only reached the second round last season.

So this offseason, Suns management took aim at Paul and Ayton - using them as bargaining chips in exchange for Beal, Nurkic and others. I thought that with the three major scorers of "Ducker", plus Nurkic, this Suns team could stabilize the top four in the West no matter how bad it was. But so far this season, they have been lingering in the play-off places...

Judging from Ayton's average of 12.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in the new season, with a 58.7% shooting rate, and Nurkic's 11.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists, with a shooting rate of 46.9%, although losing a champion, the Suns are not a loss. After all, it was a 2-for-4 deal and also helped the Suns get rid of Ayton's big contract.

However, judging from Beal's attendance (three games) and state (17.3 points per game) in the new season, combined with the needs of Durant and Booker's style of play, even if Beal is younger and more explosive in scoring, the Suns should not trade Paul for Beal...

In fact, with the "Duke combination", the Suns should not have brought in Beal at all

1. Durant and Booker are not good at organization, and the Suns need a qualified playmaker. Looking at the overall stats of the Suns in the new season, they have 26.0 assists (13th in the league), but their turnover rate has reached 14.3 (first in the league).

Durant averaged 5.7 assists (23rd in the league) and 3.6 turnovers (8th in the league) while Booker averaged 8.2 assists per game, but he only played 12 games and had 3.3 turnovers.

So far in the new season, whether it is from the statistical performance of Durant and Booker, or their actual performance on the court, they have not been able to completely transform and become the real control of the team. And judging from the personal style of play and characteristics, forcing Durant and Booker to hold the ball in this way will only waste their offensive talent.

And at present, in addition to Durant and Booker, the Suns are not good at organizing tandems, so they might as well keep Paul this summer. After all, compared to offense, the Suns now need a qualified playmaker - although Paul's offensive ability has declined, his organizational ability is still the top in the league, and he can still contribute 7.2 assists and 1.2 turnovers per game so far in the new season...

2. Consecutive injuries + declining form, Beal may not be able to recover the state of a super scorer. Since entering the league in 12 years, Beal has gradually become the absolute core of the Wizards by relying on his personal ability, and has also averaged 30+ points per game in the 19-20 season (30.5 points) and 20-21 seasons (31.3 points).

It's just that in recent years, due to injuries, Beal's personal competitive form has declined rapidly. In the 21-22 and 22-23 seasons, as the absolute core and super scorer of the team, Beal also scored only 23.2 points. Otherwise, with his form in previous years, the Wizards would not have used him as a trade chip this summer.

After Beal joined the Suns in the new season, regardless of whether he can have chemistry with Durant and Booker, in fact, under the erosion of injuries, it is difficult for him to reproduce his super scorer performance. As a result, Bill can't have chemistry with the "Duke combination" or play a super scorer performance, and it's really hard for Bill to bring reinforcement to the Suns.

Therefore, the Suns should not trade Paul, because judging by the current performance of the "Duke combination", they need a qualified playmaker more than a super scorer. Combined with Beal's poor form now, there is really no need for the Suns to trade Paul for a star with declining offense and average organizational skills this summer...