PHOENIX — It’s no secret Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal had a no-trade clause in his deal before eventually waiving it, green-lighting a trade from the Washington Wizards last summer.

Beal was in ultimate control of where he went, though there was another potential suitor interested besides the Suns.

According to The Athletic’s David Aldridge on the “Good Word with Goodwill” podcast with Yahoo!’s Vincent Goodwill, the Miami Heat were fully in on Beal.

Vincent Goodwill: “I was really curious that the Heat didn’t go all in on Damian Lillard, all in on Bradley Beal, which I guess to some degree with the Brad stuff, you saw what happened.”

David Aldridge: “They were in on Beal. Beal said no, I want to go to Phoenix. He had the stupid no-trade clause that the Wizards stupidly gave him. But yeah, they were going for Beal, but he just said nah.”

The Heat have seemingly been in on a large amount of superstars to pair with Jimmy Butler down in South Beach – including Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, who reportedly had the Heat and Suns as his top two teams when he decided to leave the Brooklyn Nets.

The Heat have been a fairly sturdy squad in the Eastern Conference, making the NBA Finals twice in the last five years with another appearance in the Conference Finals during that stretch. Erik Spoelstra is one of the highest-rated and respected coaches in the league for good reason, and… who wouldn’t want to live in Miami?

As for Beal, the Suns certainly hope to maximize his skill set better under the watch of Mike Budenholzer for the 2024-25 season. With the addition of point guard Tyus Jones, Beal will slide to more of a shooting guard role as opposed to being asked to help run the offense under previous head coach Frank Vogel.