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After last season's failure, the Phoenix Suns underwent major roster reconstruction and organizational changes. They have a new general manager and head coach, and they made a massive trade to get rid of Kevin Durant and send him to the Houston Rockets. They also made the big move of buying out Bradley Beal, so that this roster will be completely different next season.
The Suns tried negotiating a trade with Beal, but his no-trade clause complicated it. The Suns waived and stretched Beal's contract to absorb the $99 million owed to him over the next five years, which means that money will sit on their salary cap, at $20 million a season, until the end of the decade.
ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst recently wrote a massive piece about what happened with Beal and the Suns behind the scenes and why they made this decision. The short answer, Windhorst said, is money.
Windhorst elaborated more: “Over the past two seasons, Suns owner Mat Ishbia had spent $620 million in salary and luxury taxes, and the team didn't win a single playoff game. Being expensive is one thing. Being costly and losing is quite another, regardless of how deep-pocketed the owner might be.”
According to Windhorst, money was the reason behind all this because they desperately needed flexibility. He said, “Waiving Beal saves the Suns a whopping $175 million this season just in luxury tax, a figure so enormous that it alone could justify spreading the cap pain out over the next five years. Combined with the salary savings just this season, the maneuver took more than $210 million off the team's balance sheet.”
The biggest news about buying out Beal's contract is that Phoenix will get out of both the first and second aprons, salary-wise. The aprons were heavily penalizing the Suns for how much money they were spending on their roster, and now they have much more flexibility than before.
The Phoenix Suns are still dealing with issues due to trading away so many draft picks, but they can now sign talented players to fill their roster or make trades if needed. They were stuck before, and now have much more leeway to build a competitive roster.
Devin Booker was signed to a massive contract extension, cementing his untouchability. They also still have talented players, like Jalen Green, who came over in the Kevin Durant trade. The frontcourt has also undergone a massive upgrade thanks to Khaman Maluach and Mark Williams. The roster still feels unfinished, but it is much more flexible than before, and that matters, especially in trying to help Devin Booker win.
