Veteran guard Bradley Beal has reached an agreement on a buyout with the Suns and will be placed on waivers, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Once he clears waivers and becomes a free agent, Beal intends to sign with the Clippers on a two-year, $11MM deal that will include a second-year player option, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Charania.
A buyout had long been the anticipated outcome for Beal, with John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 suggesting back in April that there was a “zero percent chance” of the three-time All-Star returning to Phoenix for the 2025/26 season. While the Suns explored trade options for Beal, his two-year, $111MM contract and no-trade clause made it virtually impossible for the team to move him, so the two sides began discussing a buyout early in free agency.
As we wrote at that time, in order for the Suns to use the stretch provision on Beal and spread out his remaining salary across five seasons (instead of two), he would have to give back roughly $13.88MM in a buyout agreement — a team isn’t permitted to carry stretched salary totaling more than 15% of the salary cap, and Phoenix had previously used the stretch provision on Nassir Little and E.J. Liddell.
According to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), Beal will indeed give back that required $13.88MM in the buyout agreement, giving the Suns the option of stretching his $96.9MM in remaining salary. And they’re virtually certain to take that path, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports.
The Suns had been operating over the second tax apron this offseason, but reducing Beal’s 2025/26 cap hit from about $53.67MM to $19.38MM won’t just move them out of second-apron territory — as cap experts Bobby Marks and Yossi Gozlan detail (all Twitter links), Phoenix can get all the way below the luxury tax line as a result of the buyout. That would eliminate an estimated $176MM in tax penalties and unlock a handful of restrictions related to trades and free agency, including the use of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
As Gozlan notes, the Suns figure to move slightly back over the tax line once they add a 14th man to replace Beal, but they’ll be in position to duck the tax with a minor roster move later in the season. Previous reporting indicated that Phoenix will likely use the roster spot being vacated by Beal on a point guard or combo guard.
As a result of being waived, Beal will no longer hold his no-trade clause, and he won’t immediately make back the money that he’s giving up in his buyout agreement. However, according to Charania (Twitter links), the 32-year-old became increasingly excited about the possibility of reaching free agency after meeting with multiple interested teams in recent weeks, a process spearheaded by Bartelstein with the approval of the Suns.
The Clippers were reported last week to be the favorites to land Beal following the trade that sent Norman Powell to Miami. Beal will take that newly opened spot in L.A.’s backcourt and will be signed using the remainder of the club’s mid-level exception. Brook Lopez received $8.75MM of that $14.104MM exception, leaving $5,354,000 for Beal. That will be his first-year salary, followed by a $5,621,700 player option for 2026/27.
The signing will leave the Clippers roughly $3.5MM below their first-apron hard cap, with 13 players under contract, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. That means, barring cost-cutting moves, the club won’t be able to carrying a 15th man to open the season, since a veteran-minimum deal counts toward the cap for about $2.3MM.
While Beal’s value has taken a hit in recent years due to his maximum-salary contract and some injury issues, he has continued to be one of the NBA’s efficient backcourt scorers when he’s healthy. Across two seasons in Phoenix, he averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game on .505/.407/.808 shooting in 106 outings (91 starts).