Report: Suns discussing Bradley Beal buyout

Report: Suns discussing Bradley Beal buyout

Since arriving in Phoenix in the summer of 2023, Bradley Beal‘s tenure with the Phoenix Suns has been a disaster for a team hoping to compete for an NBA championship.

Those expectations fell on its face, as the trio of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker went 45-33 together in 78 games, including 19-18 this year (42-win pace). Kevin Durant was the odd man out and was traded to the Houston Rockets in June. Now, Beal’s time in Phoenix could be coming to an end as well, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.

“The Phoenix Suns have been discussing a possible buyout for guard Bradley Beal, league sources have informed The Arizona Republic,” Rankin’s report read. “A buyout would make Beal a free agent. Teams can officially begin signing players to contracts July 6.”

Sources: Phoenix Suns discussing possible Bradley Beal buyout (w/video) #Suns https://t.co/4fqkzKeKTs via @azcentral

— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) July 3, 2025

Beal has $110.8 million left on his contract with a no-trade clause, which has made him one of the most untradable players in the entire NBA because of his age, skillset, lack of availability (injuries suck) and his contract. If he was bought out, he would no longer own the no-trade clause.

However, where the discussions become more convoluted is how much Beal’s going to sacrifice and whether or not Phoenix will be able to stretch his buyout.

NBA teams cannot have stretch provisions on their books that add up to over 15 percent of the cap. The Suns are already set to have $3.8 million in dead money for the 2025-26 season. Thus, they will have a little over $19 million in wiggle room before they reach that 15 percent threshold.

While it would be a sizable chunk of the cap each of the next five years, Phoenix stretching his buyout would allow them to get under the second apron, which has been a priority of theirs this offseason. They are currently $12.5 million over the onerous second apron, according to Yossi Gozlan’s capsheets.com table.

Kevin Durant traded to Rockets

They could also eat the majority of Beal’s money for the next two seasons and deal with the short-term ramifications. Even with Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Mark Williams and rookies Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach alongside Devin Booker, the Suns aren’t expected to make much noise outside of being a fringe top-6 seed. I think they’ve done a good job excavating their hole, but it’s still not enough.

Nevertheless, Beal’s tenure was a failure and the Suns have done everything they’ve could to try and find an out. It’s best for both sides to part ways, and it looks like that could be the case sooner rather than later.

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