The Phoenix Suns may be closer than ever to a Bradley Beal buyout

The Suns may soon find out if letting go is better than holding on

When the Milwaukee Bucks waived and stretched Damian Lillard’s $112.6 million contract earlier this week, a new precedent was set, one unlike anything we’ve seen in NBA history. No team had ever waived and stretched a salary even remotely close to that size. The previous record? Just $31 million.

But when that move went down, something we’ve been circling here in Phoenix since February suddenly felt real.

Because the Suns, much like the Bucks, have a player sitting on a contract with two years and over $100 million still owed. And in the Bucks’ attempt to ease their immediate financial burden, they chose a long-term solution: pay Lillard $22.5 million annually over the next five years. It was bold. It was painful. But it was strategic.

And now, the Suns find themselves with the same option…if Bradley Beal agrees.

Because here’s the difference: a buyout isn’t a waiver. A buyout is a negotiation. A dialogue. It only happens if both sides reach an understanding. For Beal to be bought out, he’d have to willingly take less than what the Suns owe him. It’s not a decision you impose. It’s one you arrive at, together.

Yes, Damian Lillard had slightly more money remaining on his contract than Bradley Beal. About $1.8 million more. But the distinction isn’t just in the dollars, it’s in the math of cap mechanics.

The NBA restricts teams from carrying more than 15% of the salary cap in dead money. Milwaukee, despite waiving and stretching Lillard over five years, stayed just under that limit; his dead cap hit came in $670,000 below the threshold, which made the move possible.

Phoenix isn’t in that same position.

If the Suns were to waive and stretch Beal over five years, his cap hit would be $22.2 million annually. But they already carry $3.8 million in dead cap from stretching Nassir Little and EJ Liddell. Add it up, and they blow past the league’s limit. That’s $26 million, or 16.8% of the cap.

That’s where a buyout becomes essential. Not just preferable. Necessary.

In order for the Suns to access the same financial mechanism the Bucks used with Lillard, Bradley Beal would have to agree to take less than what he’s owed. That’s not just a strategic option, it’s the only way this path becomes legally viable.

Without a buyout, the numbers don’t work. With one? Phoenix could, at last, begin rewriting its future.

A Bradley Beal buyout, if the Suns were to seriously pursue one, would require a significant concession from Beal himself. For Phoenix to stay within the league’s 15% dead cap threshold and legally execute a waive-and-stretch strategy, Beal would need to agree to reduce his payout.

The rough math? He’d have to accept something in the neighborhood of $97 million out of the $110.8 million he’s still owed.

That’s nearly $14 million left on the table. Not an easy ask, even for a player with over a decade of NBA earnings. But it’s also the only scenario in which Phoenix could both move off the contract and stay compliant with league cap restrictions. It’s not about willingness alone; it’s about structure, thresholds, and precision.

In Brad’s case, the math starts to make a little more sense when you account for what he could reasonably earn elsewhere. My assumption? He’d likely sign for the mid-level exception, roughly $14.1 million. And if that’s the case, it helps bridge the gap in a potential buyout.

To make the numbers work for the Suns, Beal would need to accept a buyout in the ballpark of $96.7 million. That’s the sweet spot. Stretching that amount over five years brings the annual cap hit down to $19.3 million.

Now add in the $3.8 million in existing dead cap from the waivers of Nassir Little and EJ Liddell, and you land at $23.1 million in total dead cap. With next season’s salary cap projected at $155.1 million, that’s 14.9% of the cap, just under the league’s hard 15% threshold.

In other words, that’s the number. $96.7 million is the minimum buyout amount that makes a waive-and-stretch scenario even possible. Any higher, and the Suns break the rules. Any lower, and they start gaining real flexibility.

It’s not just a financial puzzle. It’s a legal one. And Beal holds the final piece.

Per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, that is the discussion that is occurring right now.

“The Phoenix Suns have been discussing a possible buyout for guard Bradley Beal, league sources have informed The Arizona Republic,” Rankin states.

This is one of the key reasons why trading Bradley Beal has felt virtually impossible. Yes, the obvious obstacle is the no-trade clause. He holds all the leverage, with the ability to veto any destination the Suns might explore. But there’s another, more nuanced challenge working against Phoenix: perception.

Why would any team trade for Bradley Beal when there’s a growing belief that a buyout could be on the horizon? Why surrender assets like draft capital, young players, and matching salaries when you could potentially get him for pennies on the dollar if the Suns are forced to buy him out? That logic looms large across the league. It’s a waiting game, and Beal’s value drops the longer he stays tethered to a contract Phoenix can’t afford to carry.

And we’ve already seen the reaction across the league to Milwaukee’s move with Damian Lillard. The waive-and-stretch was widely criticized as a short-term fix with long-term consequences. And that’s exactly what it was.

But the Bucks did it anyway, because they had a reason: Giannis Antetokounmpo. A two-time MVP whose long-term happiness and loyalty are the franchise’s top priority.

Like Phoenix, Milwaukee was a second-apron team drowning in inflexibility and low on draft capital. But once they stretched Lillard’s contract, it opened the door. They regained breathing room, and with that, they moved quickly to acquire Myles Turner.

Phoenix? They don’t have a superstar whom they are afraid of losing. Devin Booker is here and here to stay. The teams made a commitment, and he’s made a commitment to them. So their hand isn’t being as forced as Milwaukee’s was. But in the same breath, the theory that we’ve talked about since February is becoming a reality as the conversations are occurring.

It makes you wonder: is this the right move?

Do you put up with the next two years of Bradley Beal, fully aware that this team, as currently constructed, doesn’t have what it takes to win a championship? Do you ride it out, hoping for a miracle, knowing that releasing his salary might not open the door to contention, but could instead just bury you further with long-term dead cap?

Or do you cut bait now? Accept the sunk cost. Call it what it is — a mistake — and take this as a chance to course correct. A rare opportunity to fix a misstep before it defines the next five years.

But then again is that correction just another mistake? A short-term fix with long-term pain. A decision made not from strength, but from desperation.

That’s the question facing the Suns. Not whether Bradley Beal is a good player. Ee know he is. But whether holding onto the past is safer than letting go of it entirely.

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