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6 hours ago
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The Phoenix Suns and Bradley Beal may soon be parting ways.
A possible buyout from the remaining two years and $110 million is currently being discussed, the Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin reports. Beal is playing out the five-year, $251 million contract he signed before the 2022-23 season.
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The Suns would have preferred to find a team that would take Beal in a trade, but his contract includes a no-trade clause. Perhaps more importantly, few teams were interested in taking on that kind of money for a player who has averaged 52 games over the past six seasons.
Beal, 32, averaged more than 30 points per game in the two seasons before signing his max contract. Roughly one year after agreeing to that deal, he was traded to the Suns. And his numbers have steadily declined since then.
A buyout would work similarly to what the Milwaukee Bucks did earlier this week with Damian Lillard. Milwaukee waived Lillard and will use the NBA's stretch provision to spread the remaining two years and $113 million on his contract over five years.
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With Beal, the Suns would negotiate a buyout for most of the money still owed on his contract. As Rankin says, that could be $90 million stretched out over five years. Beal would have to give back at least $13.8 million to allow Phoenix to stretch his contract, according to NBA salary cap analyst Yossi Gozlan.
The 13-year veteran would then become a free agent. However, he likely would prefer the Suns work out a deal with another team that would enable him to recoup the remaining $20 million he was to be paid.
Currently, the Suns are $10 million over the league's second apron, which taxes teams severely for dollars spent over payroll limits and restricts trades that can be made. Stretching out Beal's contract would get the Suns under that threshold and save the team $230 million.
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NBA teams can officially begin to sign players to contracts on July 6. The Suns' trade of Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, a 2025 first-round pick (which became Duke center Khaman Maluach), and five second-round picks also becomes official on July 6. So there is certainly motivation on both sides to finish a buyout by that date.
Beal, a three-time All-Star averaged 17.6 points, shot 41% on 3-pointers and played 53 games during his two seasons in Phoenix. The Suns went a combined 85-79 and lost a first-round playoff series, falling far short of the expectations that the "big three" of Beal, Durant and Devin Booker created.
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