Three-time NBA All-Star Bradley Beal has agreed to a contract buyout with the Phoenix Suns and plans to join the LA Clippers on a two-year, $11 million deal with a player option after he clears waivers, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports told ESPN on Wednesday.
The player option for 2026-27 clears the way for Beal, 32, to be one of the top available players in free agency next summer.
For the Clippers, Beal is a natural fit alongside Kawhi Leonard and James Harden as a scorer, playmaker and co-star. LA signed Brook Lopez in free agency and traded Norman Powell to the Miami Heat in a three-team deal that brought forward John Collins to the Clippers from the Utah Jazz.
After a two-year run in Phoenix did not work out, the crux of the decision for Beal and his representation was finding the best basketball fit, first and foremost. Beal was granted permission by the Suns to speak to interested teams around the league, sources said. Bartelstein led an exhaustive process over the last several weeks, meeting with teams involved, that allowed Beal to make the decision to part with the Suns and control where he wanted to go.
Personnel across several other teams — including the Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers, sources said — pursued Beal and had extensive conversations with him and Bartelstein in recent weeks.
Beal is giving back $13.9 million out of the $110 million on the final two years of his contract to complete the buyout with the Suns, who will likely waive-and-stretch the remaining salary over five years, sources said.
Beal, who averaged 21.5 points, 4.3 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 37.6% from behind the arc for his career, will slide into the starting spot at shooting guard with the
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