Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Ryan Dunn 15 for the Suns. Jusuf Nurkic, who was also moved to the bench alongside Beal, had five points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes. Beal, 31, is averaging 17.8 points on 48% shooting this season. He has more than $110 million left on his contract after this season.

It’s understandable that Beal was caught off-guard. He has been advertised as one leg of this big three in Phoenix since the moment he waived his no-trade clause about a year and a half ago to approve a trade out of Washington.

Beal came off the bench for the first time in nine years on Monday night and scored a team-high 25 points as the Suns snapped a four-game losing streak with a 109-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers .