The worst-kept secret in the NBA finally became official on Wednesday: The Phoenix Suns and Bradley Beal have agreed to a buyout that will allow the Suns to waive-and-stretch the remaining money on Beal’s contract, making him a free agent. Beal will sign a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, with Shams Charania of ESPN officially breaking the news.
This had been anticipated for weeks but was on hold because Beal was set to receive a $13.4 million payment from Phoenix on July 15, a 25% advance payment of his salary for the upcoming season. Once that was completed, the transaction moved forward.
Beal has to give up an estimated $13.8 million of his contract for the Suns to be able to waive and stretch him (thanks to a little-discussed provision of the CBA that only allows 15% of a team’s salary cap to go toward buyouts, and the Suns already had a couple of smaller ones). Beal ultimately was willing to do that to essentially buy his freedom to sign with the team of his choosing.
That team is the Clippers. The Clippers are using the $5.4 million remaining from their mid-level exception to sign Beal (with a $5.6 million player option for next season. This signing leaves the Clippers hard-capped at the first apron, which they are about $3.5 million below, (expect them to add one more veteran minimum deal).
Beal is going to get heavy minutes in Los Angeles, being asked to step into the role Norman Powell played for the team last season. Powell was a borderline All-Star as a sharpshooting, ball-handling wing playing next to James Harden and running the second unit (he was traded to Miami, a move seen around the league as a precursor to Beal becoming a Clipper). Beal may start next to Harden or come off the bench behind the more defensive Kris Dunn. That Clippers second unit could also include John Collins (unless Collins starts and Derrick Jones Jr. comes off the bench), Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Brook Lopez. Beal joins a team with championship aspirations that won 50 games last season and may be better this season (if Kawhi Leonard stays healthy). While there are always playoff questions surrounding Harden, the Clippers are a top-six team (and possibly a top-four team) in the West.
The Suns receive more short-term financial relief, as Beal’s salary drops from $57.3 million to approximately $19 million — a move that aligns with the pattern of short-term thinking prevalent in Phoenix since Mat Ishbia purchased the team. The Suns now have $19 million in dead money serving as an anchor on their books for each of the next five years. The Suns will have to work around that as they retool the team around Devin Booker, and in a tax apron world, that dead money is going to hamper future moves. However, in the short term things definitely get less expensive, and the Suns have some options as the roster undergoes a major shift.
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