The Phoenix Suns have been stuck with Bradley Beal’s contract ever since the 2022-23 season, when they decided to blow up the core of the roster that went to the 2021 NBA Finals with Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. At the end of the 2024-25 NBA season, it was reported that Beal may have played his last game as a Phoenix Suns player, as the two parties are expected to agree on a contract buyout for the former All-Star. But that never happened.
Beal is potentially owed over $110 million over the next two seasons, a contract that is extremely hard to trade in today’s NBA for mainly two reasons: the no-trade clause of the contract and Beal no longer performing to a level that deserves over $50 million of a team’s limited annual salary cap space. However, according to us, if they do agree on a buyout, teams in the NBA could still be interested in Beal, just not for a contract of that scale.
Further, as per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, the Clippers are expected to be in the race for Bradley Beal if the Suns manage to find a way to buy him out or trade him if he waives his no-trade clause.
“If Bradley Beal were to be bought out of his contract, perhaps the Clippers would be a player in that. That’s something some people have mentioned to me. Because the Clippers have always been advantageous about getting stars on the cheap when there’s a situation like that where they are bought out. In the past, they’ve had guards like John Wall, Rajon Rondo, and Russell Westbrook. They could be very advantageous if something unforeseen like that were to happen, like Bradley Beal getting bought out.”
The Suns cannot waive Beal as the league rules don’t allow a team to have over 15% of their salary cap space tied up in waived and stretched contracts. A player who once averaged 31.3 points per game for the whole season (2020-21), Beal now only has role player-level numbers and no longer puts up stats like the superstar he once was. He averaged 17.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game last season.
The Suns have begun their rebuild around Devin Booker, and it is only a matter of time before they find a solution for Beal. Will Beal take the money in the buyout and accept that his career is nearing its end? Or will he fight for one more season with the Suns and show them he can form the elite backcourt duo with Booker that the Suns expected him to be?
With Kevin Durant now in Houston, Beal has two options on how to go forward. Either the 32-year-old guard can forcefully stay on a team that doesn’t want him anymore and fight for a place on the team, or he can plan his exit by either waiving the no-trade clause or coming to a buyout agreement with the Suns so that his career can move forward in another team, like the Clippers.
