Apr 9, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) reacts against the Oklahoma City Thunderduring the first half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Insiders Criticize Suns' Handling of Bradley Beal

Originally posted on Phoenix Suns on SI
By Connor Moreno | Last updated Jul 21, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The Phoenix Suns buying out Bradley Beal's contract was a move long expected and, quite frankly, necessary in order to move into this new era of the franchise.

Even then, waiving and stretching Beal's contract is viewed by many national pundits as a bad move on its face.

Zach Lowe, NBA talking head for The Ringer spoke on Phoenix's future in his latest episode of The Zach Lowe Show with writer Mo Dakhil and they didn't like the move despite it being necessary.

"Suns (did an) OK job digging out of that fake Big Three that they built," Lowe said. "But ... I don't know. there's interesting stuff here, I just don't know where they're going and they don't control any of their picks until 2032."

Dakhil then added, "I just don't know what the plan is. Nothing frustrates me more than not fully understanding or seeing the vision that these teams have. And this one just seems like one of those other teams that are somewhat rudderless.

"The KD trade, that was the best they could do. That was actually almost better than I thought they could've done. ... The thing for me, with the Beal waive and stretch and now it's $20 million on your books for the next five years. But $20 million can get you a player."

"It hurts, man," Lowe interjected.

"It's a $20 million player that's never going to play," Dakhil continued. "This isn't turning into a player. This is turning into tax relief [for] an owner. None of that helps them. Not this year. It doesn't really help them next year. I don't see a situation where I look at that going like, 'Cool, they had to do this because two years from now, they could be a team,' like I just don't know where they're at.

"This team just has so many pieces that I also don't know how they fit together. I just have a lot of questions for them, and I feel bad for Phoenix.

One of the reasons the Suns didn't consider a buyout during their 2024-25 season was because of how tedious and, quite frankly, how historically uncommon such a move would be. However, in this new era of the salary cap, we've seen two teams make historic buyouts: the Bucks with Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers with former Suns center Deandre Ayton.

Phoenix is now the third team and officially ends a truly disappointing era.