The Phoenix Suns are considering all options when it comes to the future of Bradley Beal with the franchise, including a potential buyout, according to a report from Duane Rankin of AZ Central.
Beal is considered to have one of the toughest contracts in basketball to trade. He's 32 years old, has a long injury history that has kept him off the court for significant stretches, and is owed $110 million in the final two years of his contract with a rare full no-trade clause, making it difficult—even near impossible—to deal him.
The list of teams interested in acquiring him at his salary seems short, and if Beal doesn't want to go to such a team, he doesn't have to, thanks to his no-trade clause.
So now, the Suns are seeking out a potential buyout of the veteran's contract, which would put them on the hook for his remaining salary, but would wash their hands of a trade that they probably never should have made in the first place.
The Suns could theoretically waive-and-stretch Beal's contract, similar to how the Bucks are handling recently waived Damian Lillard's deal. The difference for Phoenix would be that the Suns already have two former players they're waiving and stretching—Nassir Little ($3.1 million) and E.J. Liddell ($706k). As a result, Beal's salary would have to be lowered, per the CBA, to waive-and-stretch the contract.
But if Beal's salary is lowered before being waived, he might want to make sure he has a team interested in signing him to cover the remaining amount of the buyout.
Beal averaged 17.0 points per game on 49.7% shooting in 53 games last season. The three-time All-Star has not played in more than 60 games since suiting up for all 82 in both 2017-18 and 2018-19 in Washington.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Suns Mulling Big Decision on Bradley Beal's Future With Franchise.
