The Suns‘ Bradley Beal era may be nearing an end. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM in Phoenix (Twitter link) anticipates the two sides will come to a “decision and resolution” on Beal’s future within the next 24-48 hours.
Phoenix has been reportedly been discussing a buyout with the former three-time All-Star guard. The Heat and Bucks are rumored to have interest if the 6’4″ vet does indeed become a free agent.
Beal is still under contract for two more years at an exorbitant sticker price of $110.8MM and has a prohibitive no-trade clause in his deal, which has given him major leverage in dictating his fate. The Suns made him available prior to the trade deadline and did so again this offseason, but have had no luck finding a suitable deal.
Beal hasn’t appeared in more than 60 games across any of the past six seasons, missing an average of 26.5 contests a year in that span. When healthy, he’s a solid scorer, although he struggled to mesh with All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker during his time in Phoenix.
As a member of the 36-46 Suns in 2024/25, Beal appeared in just 53 contests but averaged 17.0 points, 3.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per contest, with a strong shooting line of .497/.386/.803. Former head coach Mike Budenholzer tinkered with Beal’s place in his rotation, moving him back and forth between the starting lineup and a reserve role.
Resolution on Beal’s situation doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be waived, though it seems like the most probable outcome. He must agree to give up at least $13.8MM in a buyout for the Suns to be permitted to stretch his remaining salary across five seasons, as we detailed earlier this week. That scenario would create huge cap flexibility and tax savings for Phoenix this season, allowing the club to move from above the second tax apron to below the luxury tax line.
The Suns could also waive Beal and carry his remaining salary on their books for the next two seasons, without stretching it. The other alternative would be to reach a decision to have him start the season on the roster.
If Beal reaches free agency, the Bucks may be more motivated than the Heat to make another splashy signing this summer, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald suggests (Twitter link).
Milwaukee has been extremely aggressive in its efforts to build a contender around two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in the wake of a devastating Achilles tendon tear injury to his All-Star running mate Damian Lillard. The Bucks ultimately opted to stretch-and-waive Lillard’s contract in order to sign ex-Pacers center Myles Turner to a lucrative free agent deal, but the team still could use some veteran leadership in the backcourt.
I want to be Beal.
I don’t want to be Austin Reaves
Christian Anderson (Texas Tech) started out hot for Germany & has 14 1st half pts but USA’s depth & tenacity has been a problem for him & his fellow German guards so far. The American 2nd unit, specifically Caleb Holt & Tyran Stokes, have given them much needed energy/production & subsequent control of the game. If Germany is gonna have a chance of pulling this upset they’re gonna have to withstand USA’s depth advantage while also continuing to impose their will down low & take advantage of their own strength which is their bigs. Eric Reibe (UConn) has been great so far & Hannes Steinbach (UW) has been good but they’re gonna have to be even better & keep it up for 20 more mins if they’re gonna pull this upset. 9pt lead for Team USA at half, Koa Peat (Arizona) & AJ Dybantsa (BYU) are leading a group scoring effort.. link to m.youtube.com
Gotta love Clint Capela sitting courtside at this event there in his native Switzerland.
USA start out red hot in the 3rd qtr. Germany got zero chance if this thing turns into a track meet & that’s exactly what the 1st couple mins of the half just turned in to. 17pt lead for USA, Koa Peat (captain of the team) having his best game of the tournament
This USA squad is ridiculously strong. The fact that they’re up 30 on Germany late in this 3rd qtr is strong proof of that. But overall these next couple of NBA classes are gonna be extremely strong. Germany has at least 3 & possibly up to 5 or more future NBA players in their team but America’s depth is just clearly much stronger. Possibly the best U19 American team I ever seen & that’s saying alot.
Another tough L for the ones that hate AAU/modern/American basketball which would be majority of this website lol. Team full of “entitled” youngsters just proved that they’re the best 19 & under squad in the world, similar to how the 16 & under squad did last month. Surely Mikel Brown Jr will be MVP. Look for him to be a top5 pick in a loaded draft this time next summer.
All-tournament team is Christian Anderson, Mikel Brown Jr, Zak Smrekar, AJ Dybantsa & Hannes Steinbach. All 5 are dogs. AJ got MVP, I def think Mikel shoulda got it but AJ beasted as well & was arguably better defensively.
What does this have to do with this article?
Suns are paying out a huge amount of money to just have him leave. Will they learn from their mistake and not throw money at players? I doubt it.
As Ishbia should pay for this mistake. Ruined that team.
That team already hit its ceiling before he bought them.
I mean, Ishbia literally is paying. As part of undoing this, can the Suns resign Chris Paul and Finals star Landry Shamet?
The irony is a 22 M a year dead hit will keep them outta cap forever AND lose a valuable salary slot to keep the train moving
Not only would Ishbia burn money , he’d have a freeze on his accounts essentially in a gettable market rendering his capital useless
How else do you acquire players other than paying them? For the record, they “threw money” at Chris Paul and then traded Paul and a bunch of draft assets to Washington in a trade. It was a dumb trade made to move Paul’s contract but they dug a deeper hole for themselves. Great shooter but his health limited him and he just wasn’t a good mesh in their rotation. Too much money allocated for guards that don’t play defense.
They lose the salary slot
Phx has maintained a high payroll by using assets in the trade market to acquire those salaries
Having 22 dead against your cap w Booker and others means you’ll probably never be a cap team any time soon. They don’t have anyone outside possibly Mark Willams to re-up either
They could go 22 dead and the biggest salary they can get back is a 14.1 Full taxpayer after that. Nice to lower tax for Matt but not as a mechanism of obtaining much talent
Matts wallet got him into this mess and now it needs to get him out of it. Strectching is the worst route they can possibly take at this moment, at this point it just feels like they are grasping at straws
Never should have gave him a max extension to be traded. CP3 had only 1 year left on his deal.
Hard to believe PHX would actually waive Beal (stretch or no stretch) this year without a huge write-off. It won’t result in meaningful spending power until next off season. Maybe these are preliminary discussions.
What kind of odds would the Celtics have? He and Tatum are really close.
Don’t do it Matt, you’ll regret it for years
How desperate is Phx?
Is there a route to Maluach for Cha or Wiz for taking on Beal……IF so, Id be extremely interested
Both orgs need a C, both can stage Beal for 2 years no problems, both can match pretty effectively while taking back more this year- Sexton and Bridegs already matches from Cha
It would be insane to give up a guy you just took in the top 10 just to dump a bad contract. They should just eat the salary the next two seasons since they won’t be competing anyways instead of stretching it for five seasons. Stretching for five is the absolute worst option.
Agree 100% but I’m calling if Cha or Wiz still
Bad analysis! If Beal gives up $14M a year, the non-tax MLE he can get from another team, then they can stretch him out over 5 years at less than $17M a year. That will give the Suns a lot of room to make moves over the next 5 years, especially since 3 years from now that $17M hit will be equivalent to $13M now since cars will increase by 10% a year over the next 5 years.
Obviously, if they feel they have no major moves left this year they can stretch him next year for a hit of about $8M a year for the following 5 years.
Love to see him on Bucks. Talk about a team that needs miracles. Beal was never worth what he was paid. But that’s what getting stats on a terrible team gets you. Suns didn’t give up anything to get him. Just locked themselves into cap purgatory. They didn’t even need him really. Just a dumb move.
Suns are perfect example of a team trying to buy a chip in today’s cap world.
Beal has a chance to resurrect his career. Bucks need a 20 pt scorer. Take the pressure off Giannis. He does that. Then Bucks are a tough team. Time to go out like a warrior. Bucks need him ….
Passed his prime. He’ll be just a gilbert arenas on a magic uniform if goes to bucks. He be a better fit in Atl where they need vet leadershp
Beal would be massive for the Bucks.
Feel like they need each other really.
Bucks need a perimeter scorer and 20 point per game guy. Beal needs to have a good season and remind everyone he’s a really good basketball player again.
In the easy east the bucks would be a really nice side with him.
Micic? Beal Kuzma Giannas Turner
KPJ GTJ Green Prince Portis
That’s still a playoff side in the east
Beal on Beale. Let him replace Bane, and get the starter minutes he wants for half the games he ends up playing (hopefully most of the playoffs). Not sure why MEM switched Huff for Londale.