San Francisco, California, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) and forward Kevin Durant (35) react to a call by referee Brett Nansel (44) during the fourth quar

The Phoenix Suns moved Bradley Beal to the bench on Monday night in an effort to shake up what has been a disappointing season under first-year coach Mike Budenholzer. It worked, at least for one night,

Before the game against the Hawks, the Suns had a pre-game huddle like any other team would, and typically all the players join in. Beal didn't, though, avoiding the team huddle. It seems the locker room chemistry is only getting worse, and having a star like Beal on the bench will certainly make that happen.

It would have been easy to assume the Phoenix Suns' decision to bench Bradley Beal was done in part to motivate him to waive his no-trade clause ahead of

The Phoenix Suns are at the point of no return. They are moving Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic to the bench, per Chris Haynes. It is irreversible.

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.

PHOENIX -- Amid a flurry of trade rumors surrounding his name, Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal finally broke his silence. When asked if his recent benching was due to a potential move, Beal offered the following: "If so, I need to be addressed because I hold the cards. Until I'm addressed and somebody says something different, I'll be a Sun."

Receiving major bench contributions from both Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen, the Phoenix Suns won 123-115 over the Atlanta Hawks. Beal led the Suns (17-19) with 25 points and both Allen and Kevin Durant scored 23 apiece.