Why The Phoenix Suns Can’t Just Waive-And-Stretch Bradley Beal’s Contract

On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks made the shocking decision to waive and stretch the remaining two years and $112.6 million on the contract of All-Star point guard Damian Lillard. They did so to create enough salary-cap space to sign former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract in free agency, although they’ll now have a dead cap hit of roughly $22.5 million for Lillard in each of the next five seasons.

As soon as the Bucks did that with Lillard, attention quickly turned to the Bradley Beal and the Phoenix Suns, who’ve been mired in their own standoff for the past six months.

The Suns shopped Beal ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline, according to multiple reports, but they couldn’t find any takers for the two years and roughly $110.8 million that he has left on his contract. Even if they did, he could have scuttled any trade courtesy of the no-trade clause he possesses in his contract.

That has the Suns considering other options. On Thursday, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic reported they “have been discussing a possible buyout” for Beal. However, he would forfeit his no-trade clause if he agrees to a buyout, which might make him reluctant to do so.

“Brad worked really hard to earn a no-trade clause. We earned it and we have it—and it is really valuable,” Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne in January. “Does that mean that he would never, ever accept a trade? No. You always have an open mind and you always are willing to listen to things that you think might be great.”

The Suns could always outright waive Beal and eat his salary as dead cap hits for the next two seasons, although there’s no real reason for them to do that. If they’re going to pay him that amount of money, they might as well keep him around if only to dangle as an expiring contract next summer.

Unless he does agree to give some money back in a buyout, though, the Suns aren’t allowed to go the same waive-and-stretch route as the Bucks did with Lillard.

The 15% Rule

The NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement allows teams to stretch out the dead cap hits they incur from waiving players, although there are limits on how much they’re allowed to do in a given season. That’s where the Suns run into trouble.

Teams aren’t allowed to stretch a player’s contract—i.e., spread the cap hits across twice as many seasons as they have left on their deal, plus one—if they would end up with dead cap hits worth more than 15% of the salary cap on their books. The salary cap landed at $154,647,000 this year, which means the Suns couldn’t have more than $23,197,050 in dead salary.

The Suns already waive-and-stretched Nassir Little ($3.1 million) and E.J. Liddell ($707,000) ahead of last season, which leaves them starting out with roughly $3.8 million in dead salary. At most, Beal could count as roughly $19.4 million against their cap this year after agreeing to a buyout. The Suns would be left with that same dead cap hit across each of the next five seasons.

The problem is there’s a roughly $13.9 million gap between the most that the Suns are allowed to stretch in total over the next half-decade and what Beal is set to earn this year and next. He could always decide that the freedom to choose his next team is worth the price of giving up $14 million, especially if he stands to make up some of that difference with his new team, but money is quickly drying up around the league.

According to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, both the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat would have interest in signing Beal if he gets bought out. The Bucks appear to have used a portion of their $8.8 million room mid-level exception to re-sign Kevin Porter Jr., although the Miami Heat haven’t touched their $14.1 million non-taxpayer MLE. Beal might be more amenable to a buyout if his next team offers him anywhere close to however much money he decides to give up.

Suns Impact

Buying out Beal could be a much-needed lifeline for the Suns, who’ve been stuck in second-apron purgatory for the past two years. They’re currently $12.5 million over the second apron and $24.4 million over the first apron, so they would dip under both with a Beal buyout. In fact, there’s a chance they could even stay under the $187.9 million luxury-tax line, which would get them one step closer to resetting the clock on the punishing repeater tax. (They’re about $30.9 million over it as of now.)

If the Suns did manage to duck the tax this year by buying out Beal and stretching his remaining salary, it would save them upward of $230 million, according to salary-cap analyst Yossi Gozlan. There’s just one problem: Beal reportedly doesn’t want to leave Phoenix.

“Beal would be open to the right trade that sends him the right destination, but his preference is to remain in Phoenix, even if the team won only 35 games a season ago and just downgraded from Kevin Durant, who it dealt to the Houston Rockets last weekend,” Fred Katz of The Athletic wrote at the end of June.

“Since leaving Washington in 2023, Beal’s wife and kids have moved from D.C. to Los Angeles and then, before the start of this season, to Phoenix full time. Playing for another team would leave him with two options: He would have to either pull his kids out of school, moving them again, or leave his family altogether, neither of which excites him.”

Former Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer shifted Beal to the bench in January after he started each of his 501 regular-season games over the previous eight seasons. That led to some speculation about whether the Suns were trying to convince him to waive his no-trade clause ahead of the deadline. Beal didn’t cause too much of a scene about it publicly, although he did make it known that he disagreed with Budenholzer’s decision, telling reporters, “I’m a starter in the league. I firmly believe that. No disrespect to anybody, but I’m a starter.

The Suns landed Jalen Green from the Houston Rockets as part of their return package for Kevin Durant this offseason, which leaves them with an awkward glut of 2-guards between him, Beal and franchise cornerstone Devin Booker. Beal once again figures to come off the bench if he remains in Phoenix, which could serve as further incentive to pursue a buyout and then sign with a team where he could play more minutes.

Given the financial implications of escaping from Beal’s contract, the Suns figure to turn over every stone this offseason. Unfortunately, their decision to waive-and-stretch both Little and Liddell last year came back to bite them, as they now have to rely on Beal giving back nearly $14 million to even put a waive-and-stretch on the table as an option.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

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