NBA News: The Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards pulled off a blockbuster trade that sent Bradley Beal to the Suns. The trade also sent Chris Paul to the Washington Wizards along with a slew of draft picks. Many thought the Wizards didn’t get nearly enough in return for a 29-year-old three-time all-star. However, a new detail emerged that has fans even more skeptical of the trade.
What Is So Controversial About The Bradley Beal Trade? (NBA News)
Bradley Beal’s Agent, Mark Bartelstein, is the father of Phoenix Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein. As I mentioned above, the Phoenix Suns seemingly got an absolute steal for three-time all-star Bradley Beal.
“This was an extremely complicated process with so many different hurdles to get through, and [Wizards owner] Ted Leonsis and [Wizards president] Michael Winger were unbelievable partners in making this happen,” Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN.
“From the day that Ted drafted Brad he has been by our side along with [former general managers] Ernie Grunfeld and Tommy Sheppard. They’ve always had Brad’s back in every way and now we have experienced the exact same thing with Ted and Michael Winger. We are extremely grateful.”
Would The League Look Into Something Like This?
This is truly a peculiar situation and reinforces the notion that this world is indeed quite small. To those who do not know, Mark is a former investment banker and created a company called “Priority Sports”. As the name might suggest, it is a sports agency catering to professional athletes in the NBA, NFL, and so on. He began Priority Sports in 1985 and eventually added Bradley Beal to his list of clients. That could certainly create some form of conflict considering that Mark is the father of the Phoenix Suns’ CEO. NBA Fans took to Twitter to react to this type of news:
And to think most guys just get their dads a card 🤣
— Demon ☘️ (@hollywoodx95) June 18, 2023
I get that the Beal era needed to end in DC. And that the no-trade crippled the Wizards leverage. And that his contract wasn’t great. But that’s the closest thing to giving away a prime All-Star that I’ve seen in a while.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) June 18, 2023
Terrible organization.
— Craig Milkowski (@TimeformUSfigs) June 18, 2023
Personally, I think it would be an awesome Father’s Day present for Mark and Josh Bartelstein to get a Beal to Phoenix trade done today..
— Jordan Go-Kart⚜️ (@J_Kartch) June 18, 2023
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