Bradley Beal Is ‘Unlikely’ To Play In The Suns Season Opener

The Phoenix Suns almost completely overhauled their roster this summer, with just five players remaining from last year’s playoff squad. After making the huge deadline move to bring in Kevin Durant last February, the Suns continued their aggressive pursuit of stars by trading for Bradley Beal, who even found himself surprised Phoenix was able to make a deal for him work.

The biggest concern for the Suns trio of stars is health, as both Beal and Durant have struggled to stay on the floor in recent years. Durant has not played in more than 55 games in the last four years, while Beal — who once went back-to-back with 82 game seasons — hasn’t played in more than 60 in the last four years. Managing their health while also getting enough out of them in the regular season to secure the best possible seed will be one of Frank Vogel’s most difficult tasks, and heading into Tuesday night’s season-opener against the Warriors, the Suns are already dealing with some injury issues.

According to Shams Charania, Beal is “unlikely” to play in the opener due to a lingering back issue that the Suns want to be cautious with.

In addition to Beal’s back, the Suns also have Devin Booker listed as “questionable” with a toe injury that will likely make him a game-time decision in San Francisco.

Beal told reporters on Monday he tweaked it last week but is doing better, noting he has been able to go through two practices. The Suns, understandably, are wanting it to get more time to rest to avoid it becoming a long-term issue, but that means we’ll have to wait for the regular season debut of Phoenix’s new Big 3 in action. Beyond that, already having to manage something as finicky as a back injury is not the ideal start to the season for the Suns, but hopefully once Beal is back on the court he won’t have any further tweaks.