The Phoenix Suns snapped a four-game losing streak on Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers. However, the thing that turned everyone’s head wasn’t their performance on the night but superstar Bradley Beal being pushed out of the starting lineup! For the first time since 2015-16, Beal came off the bench as the Suns won 109-99.

Although the 31-year-old came off the bench, he still managed to score 25 points in just 30 minutes of action. Furthermore, he also provided five assists and grabbed three rebounds while shooting 66.7 percent from the field. However, this performance wasn’t enough to impress Kevin Durant’s former teammate Kendrick Perkins who believes Beal still has to prove a lot.

Perkins while on SportsCenter said, “I’m not going to overreact because he did it against the Philadelphia 76ers everyone’s been having their way with the 76ers, but again the goal is to continue to raise his value so they could trade Bradley Beal to a team and get back a piece that they want and need.” Suggesting that this performance is just a small sample, Beal will have to do this often to increase his trade stock for Phoenix to get the piece they want.

While it’s true that Phoenix’s name has been attached to arguably the biggest asset available in the market right now, Jimmy Butler. Beal holds the key if the move is to be executed. He is the piece that the Suns could move to get Butler to team up with Durant and Booker. But, after the game, Beal sent out a strong message amid his trade rumors. Let’s find out more about this.

“I hold the cards”: Bradley Beal sends a strong message from the locker room amid Jimmy Butler trade rumors

After starting the season with eight wins out of nine. The Phoenix Suns since then have found themselves struggling to build momentum. They currently have a losing record of 16-18. So, it’s obvious that their name has been tossed around the market with the possibility to freshen up things. Since Jimmy Butler has had a fallout with the Miami Heat his potential landing spot could be alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

How will the Suns match Butler’s massive $48.8 million salary you might wonder? Well, that’s where Bradley Beal comes into the equation. The three-time All-Star could be a direct swap as he’s on a $50.2 million salary this season. However, it’s not up to the Suns to ship Beal to Miami. As he has a no-trade clause in the $251 million extension he signed with the Wizards. After being moved to the second unit amid his trade rumors Beal said this after the game.

He said, “If so, I need to be addressed because I hold the cards. Until I’m addressed and somebody says something different, then I’ll be a Sun.” As he hinted if he is part of the bigger picture the Suns will have to address his needs to make the move happen. This could be a potential roadblock in Phoenix’s pursuit of Butler. However, there’s also news that Miami is not interested in Beal. If so then Phoenix will have to get a third team in to make this work. As the world closely follows this trade saga!