Is Bradley Beal all right? That question would have passed through the minds of attendees at the State Farm Arena as the matchup between the Phoenix Suns and the Atlanta Hawks continues to be underway. It was more than a week ago when the Suns decided to experiment with their roster a bit and decided to demote Beal and Jusuf Nurkić from the starting five. While this may have been certainly a low point for the 31-year-old veteran, he continues to be a valuable member of the team, even in a bench role. Therefore, Phoenix Suns fans would not be happy with how things transpired vis-à-vis the player only a few minutes ago.

As the matchup progressed, Bradley Beal was captured landing on David Roddy’s foot. The incident occurred as the Suns star was reportedly attempting to grab a rebound. The wrong turn of events, however, caused Beal’s foot to twist in a manner that sustained some serious discomfort upon him. He went down and was reportedly slapping the floor in frustration. While Beal attempted to walk it off, the frustration was visible to him. As reported by Underdog NBA, the situation got to a serious point, and Beal eventually had to head to the locker room.

Bradley Beal has had his fair share of injuries throughout the ongoing season. The same has also limited his appearances to an extent. Therefore, Beal has only been able to play in 28 of the Suns’ 38 games by this point. However, as highlighted by Fox Sports, this may be the first time since February 2023 that the veteran has gone down with a foot ailment.

Fortunately, as revealed by RotoWire, Beal checked back in as 1:41 minutes remained in the 3 quarter.

Beal had already been in the news last week when it was officially revealed that he was placed in a bench role. As reported by Chris Haynes, the decision was taken as other reports of rising tension in the locker room were running around. The same was caused amid claims brought on by players who were allegedly unsure of their roles.

From an outside perspective, the decision to bench Beal may have been motivated by his drop in performance. After all, his 18.2 points average in the 2023-24 season was his lowest since the 2015-16 season. Now, Beal is recording even lower than that, as his average scoring over the last 23 games has been just 17.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. As he was reportedly dealing with a hip injury, Beal’s shooting percentage also went down. In light of this, the Suns went ahead and gave the starting small forward role to rookie Ryan Dunn.

Given this shift, Beal may already be covered from a starting role part. That is if his injury keeps him sidelined for long. However, given his importance to the team, the Suns will still have to figure some things out.

How can the Phoenix Suns proceed without Bradley Beal?

As noted above, Bradley Beal returned to the game soon after sustaining the foot injury. Therefore, the ailment may not be that serious. However, things might be different once the same is re-evaluated. After all, the Suns roster may not want to take any unnecessary risks with the veteran. If Beal’s injury keeps him sidelined for long, then Royce O’Neale, Grayson Allen, and Josh Okogie could see increased minutes.

For the most part, Royce O’Neale seems to have looked to make an impact during the ongoing season. Having played 33 games this season, O’Neale has averaged 10.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. The player has already had more appearances than Beal and is performing better than he did in the previous seasons.

Meanwhile, Grayson Allen is not too far behind, having averaged 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists over 30 games. Furthermore, with 25 appearances, Josh Okogie has averaged 6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.6 assists. Therefore, these players may cover things well in the background in light of Beal’s absence.

Having lost the recent matchup against the Atlanta Hawks by a 122-117 score, the opportunity for the Phoenix Suns squad to make a lasting impact is slipping away. Whether Bradley Beal and his squad can turn things around soon is something that remains to be seen.