The Phoenix Suns are about to embark on a critical, potentially franchise-defining offseason— a summer punctuated by Kevin Durant trade negotiations, and attempting to cement their future without Devin Booker.
And yet, there is one move that will say more about their future than anything. It’s not the inevitable Durant trade. Nor is it Booker’s extension talks, and what that means for his own availability.
No, the Suns’ direction will be determined by Bradley Beal. More specifically, we will know Phoenix has lost the plot, and is perhaps giving up, if it does what should be considered the unthinkable: buy out his contract.
Buying out Bradley Beal makes no sense
Beal has two years, $110.8 million left on his current contract. The goal in buying him out would be to get some—some, not all—of that money back, and then spread out what’s left over time by waiving him.
Here’s how that would work. Let’s say Beal gives the Suns back a total of almost $16 million in buyout talks. This lowers his two-year cap hit to $95 million. The Suns would then have the right to waive-and-stretch that number over fives (double the remaining contract length, plus one season).
Going this route lowers Beal’s cap hit to $19 million. You needn’t be a rocket scientist to realize that’s waaaay less than $50-plus million.
Still, ask yourself this: What’s the point?
Paying Beal to leave is like setting money on fire
Beal’s $19 million hit would be on the books through 2029-30. There is nothing the Suns could do to change that, either. It is dead money. It cannot be traded, or in any way removed.
Team owner Mat Ishbia would save a boatload in luxury-tax payments, so there’s that. But that doesn’t help the Suns get better on the floor. They would be more financially flexible, yet still incredibly light on trade assets. Then, on top of that, they would be lighting more money on fire per year for an empty roster spot than the biggest mid-level exception is worth.
Maybe the calculus changes if Beal gives back a truckload more cash than anyone expects. But again, we must ask ourselves the same question: Why?
Beal will make up some of the difference of what he gives back in buyout talks. He is unlikely to get all of it. Only one team is projected to have serious cap space this summer. Beal may be lucky to get the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which would pay him just over $14.1 million.
If he signs a two-year deal at that price, he can give back around $29 million in a buyout with Phoenix, and break roughly even. Anything more than that, and he’s knifing into his own guaranteed money.
The Suns must hold out for a Beal trade
Perhaps Beal deems a steep concession worth the opportunity to play elsewhere. That’s not a given.
In the event he doesn’t, the Suns should suck it up, and keep him until he comes off the books after 2026-27, or until they find a deal that convinces him to waive his no-trade clause. There should be no other option. Cutting costs can be done in other ways, including through a Kevin Durant trade.
Waiving and stretching Beal, though? That’s a sign of an organization preparing to go nowhere special for the next half-decade. Devin Booker and Suns fans deserve better than that—so much better.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.