Boardroom explores why the Bucks and Suns are opting to give Lillard and Beal record-breaking nine-figure buyouts, and if the trend is here to stay.
The Milwaukee Bucks shocked the basketball universe on July 1 when they bought out and waived future Hall of Fame point guard Damian Lillard, who’s expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season after tearing his Achilles tendon during their first-round playoff loss in April.
Milwaukee will use the collective bargaining agreement’s stretch provision to spread the cost of the two years and $112.6 million remaining on Lillard’s contract over the next five years. Coupled with this move was the signing of ex-Indiana center Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million deal that will keep the Bucks competitive and appease franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had been the subject of trade rumors in previous weeks. At the same time, the Phoenix Suns and veteran guard Bradley Beal are reportedly discussing a buyout of the two years and $110.8 million remaining left on his contract and a full no-trade clause that’s severely hindered the team’s ability to contend since he was acquired from Washington two years ago. That move could happen, per reports, next week, with the Los Angeles Clippers seen as a potential landing spot for the three-time All-Star.
These two moves seem like extremely drastic measures, considering the previous record amounts of money left on players’ contracts bought out using the waive-and-stretch were Nicolas Batum‘s $27 million by the Charlotte Hornets in 2020 and Josh Smith‘s $26 million in 2014. The Bucks are going to be eating just over $22.5 million per season in dead weight over the next five seasons to save up enough cap space now to sign Turner, and the Suns’ amount per year would likely be similar for Beal. Along with the waive-and-stretch of recently acquired guard Vasilije Micic on Monday, the Bucks are awfully close to the 15% of the cap in stretched salary allowed under the CBA.
The big question is: Why are these two humongous buyouts being considered now? The answer is the unforgiving nature of the CBA’s second apron, whose restrictions and ramifications we explain here for reference.
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Milwaukee seemingly felt that keeping Lillard on its books for $54.1 million while he rehabbed for at least a year was fiscally incompatible with putting a strong team around Antetokounmpo. The Bucks had already lost starting center and defensive anchor Brook Lopez in free agency to the Clippers and didn’t really have the cap room to acquire a suitable replacement without the Dame maneuver. The short-term gain, however, will come with long-term pain, considering the combined annual costs of Turner’s salary and Lillard’s stretched payments will exceed $45 million per season over the next four years. Milwaukee management clearly felt it was worth it to show Giannis it was still serious about helping him chase a second NBA championship.
If Phoenix goes through with waiving and stretching Beal as expected, it seems like the team would be striving for a clean break and a new direction, more so than a move made out of necessity, though it would come with tens of millions in additional flexibility over the next two seasons. Its Big 3 experiment of Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant ended when the Suns traded Durant to Houston last month. The trio of assets Phoenix acquired in the deal — guard Jalen Green, forward Dillon Brooks, and the 10th overall pick in June’s draft that became Duke center Khaman Maluach — form a new core built around Booker, who signed a two-year, $145 million contract extension this week that includes the highest average annual salary for any player in NBA history. The Suns already have a projected crowded backcourt even without Beal, who’s seemingly on his way out.
Under this new second apron era, teams can no longer have bloated payrolls whose only punishment is just an enormous luxury tax bill that some ownership groups are willing to pay if it means contending for a title. The restrictions these teams now face magnify management mistakes when taking on a contract like Beal’s, which handicapped Phoenix’s roster flexibility. Milwaukee could no longer afford to both keep Dame and sign Turner. As the math gets tougher for these teams over time, so will the decisions they make, as more may decide, like the Bucks, to sacrifice long-term cap space for short-term gain.
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