Phoenix Suns insider breaks down Bradley Beal contract buyout
The Suns bought out guard Bradley Beal’s contract, ending his time in Phoenix. The Republic’s Duane Rankin explains what it means for the team.
The Phoenix Suns enter the 2025-26 season with low expectations after having championship aspirations the previous two seasons with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
NBA.com ranked the Suns 13th out of the 15 teams in the Western Conference and ESPN ranks them last in the league in its Future Power Rankings over the next three years.
The Suns traded Kevin Durant to Houston before the 2025 draft and bought out Bradley Beal, who is now with the Los Angeles Clippers. They won just 36 games last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20, which was the last time they had a losing record before last season.
This might be a good time to relive the glory days.
The Arizona Republic is running a poll asking the following question: Which was the best Suns team of all-time?
Here are the four candidates. The Republic will run your comments in a later story revealing the poll results and then debate the poll results. You can email your comments to dmrankin@gannett.com. The poll appears below and will remain open until noon on Sept. 29. (Print readers can find the poll with this story at azcentral.com/sports/suns-nba).
2020-21 Suns (51-21 record)
Phoenix reached the 2021 finals in the shortened 72-game season amid COVID-19 pandemic. Devin Booker and Chris Paul led the young, chippy Suns to the NBA’s second-best record that season just two years removed from winning just 19 games.
The Suns took a 2-0 series lead on the Milwaukee Bucks before losing four straight in the finals.
2006-07 Suns (61-21 record)
Phoenix had the league’s best offense orchestrated by two-time MVP Steve Nash. The Suns fell to the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals as Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw left the bench after Robert Horry hip checked Nash late in a Game 4 win to even the series.
Stoudemire and Diaw were suspended for Game 5. Phoenix lost the controversial series in six games.
1992-93 Suns (62-20 record)
Phoenix posted the NBA’s best record that season in winning what was then a franchise-record 62 games. Charles Barkley won MVP in his first year with the Suns. The Suns reached the finals, but fell to Michael Jordan and the three-peat Chicago Bulls as John Paxson hit the Game 6 series clincher.
The Suns finished the regular season 35-6 at home, but they lost all three home games to the Bulls in the finals.
1975-76 Suns (42-40)
Phoenix was the NBA’s surprise team in reaching the 1976 finals after barely posting a winning record in the regular season. Called the Sunderella Suns, Phoenix took the Boston Celtics to six games as Garfield Heard’s jumper forced a third overtime in Game 5 at the Boston Garden.
The Suns lost that game, 128-126, and dropped Game 6 at home to end a magical playoff run.
(Poll below may take a few moments to load):
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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