Suns need Bradley Beal to make a sacrifice as they look to get out of $251M contract

It looks like Bradley Beal’s time with the Phoenix Suns is coming to an end but the team still has work to do to shift his enormous salary off the books.

When Beal moved to Pheonix in 2023 he did so as a three-time NBA All-Star, a player who was supposed to take the Suns to the next level and challenge for championships. The Suns took the remaining four years of his $251 million max contract but he has not proved good value for money.

Two years on, The Athletic reports that Phoenix are hoping that Beal will agree to give back a proportion of his remaining wages to facilitate a buy-out. Beal has $110.8 million remaining on his current deal and two years still to run. The Suns want to waive Beal and to stretch his salary across four years, lowering the salary cap hit in each season. But there’s a problem.

The league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) prevents teams from strecthing more than 15% of the current salary cap at any time. There’s already money owed to E. J. Liddell and Nassir Little, meaning that the Suns can’t stretch the entirety of Beal’s remaining contract.

According to CBS Sports, the Suns need Beal to give up about $13.9 million of his remaining $110.8 million to allow him to enter free agency. That still leaves the Suns on the hook for $96.9 million, but they will have five years to pay that over.

Beal is yet to decide what he wants to do but he does seem open to the possibility of a buy-out and a change of scenery. Now 32, there is probably a limited window for Beal to settle elsewhere and become a part of a top team.

A big part of his decision will likely be based on potential landing spots. If he can find a competitive team that is willing to offer a salary to cover the ‘lost’ $13.9 million then it should make sense for all parties. But we are now getting late in the free agency period and there aren’t many teams with the wage cap flexibility to bring on a player of Beal’s demands.

Kevin Durant’s exit was a blow for the Suns but they were simply unable to offer the sort of deal that would keep the veteran superstar with the team. If they could cut ties with Beal it would help to free up some room for future trades.

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