06-23-2025, 03:21 AM
Book has a 2-year extension available to him that would make him the highest paid player in the league and would put him under contract through '29-30. I'd think both he and the team will want to get that deal done which wouldn't let him be traded for a year (I think). Maybe you pay the tax for a year and work with Beal to talk him into a trade by the TDL or the following offseason...or he for some reason opts out. Booker is in his prime, but a stretch waive of Beal now means that every year left of Booker's prime if he chooses to stay with the Suns, he'll be at a team disadvantage of -$15.7m of cap space compared to most every other team. That would just be more incentive for him to want to leave when we've really not heard grumblings about him wanting out. It's probably smart for the Suns to shop Booker and it's more than understandable if he wants out of the situation, but maybe he's just a loyal dude. And if you have a player of his stardom, I think you hang onto that until that player asks out. Sure, it's easy for me to say that when I'm not getting their tax bill, but if my long-term plan was to try one more rebuild around Booker, I'd probably just swallow my medicine and pay Beal for a year or two, and I hope I can make enough moves for the final 3 years of Booker's assumed extended contract. It's a slight hope and an expensive hope, but that's the best Booker path forward I see. I don't see a happy ending and I almost feel bad for him.