The ongoing Bradley Beal saga has finally come to an end. Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the 32-year-old shooting guard has agreed to a contract buyout with the Phoenix Suns and plans to join the Los Angeles Clippers on a two-year, $11 million deal that includes a player option.
Phoenix now narrowly ducks the luxury tax after waiving and stretching Beal’s contract. To facilitate the buyout, Beal agreed to reduce his salary by roughly $14 million. Thus, instead of two seasons and $110.7 million remaining, Beal’s remaining contract total decreased to $96.9 million. Consequently, Beal will count against the Suns’ salary cap $19.4 million per annum over the next five seasons.
Bradley Beal’s contract quickly went from bad to league-worst
After it’s all said and done, the worst contract in the NBA distinction no longer belongs to Beal, who signed his five-year, $251 million pact with the Washington Wizards in June 2022. Although Beal’s play was by no means atrocious, he didn’t come close to living up to the exuberant sum.
The former Florida Gator averaged 23.2 points for the Wizards after signing the exorbitant contract before being shipped to Phoenix in 2023. Beal’s production subsided in the Valley as he teamed up with perennial All-Stars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. Beal appeared in only 106 games with the Suns, averaging 17.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists across two seasons. Moreover, the Suns struggled with Beal in tow, winning 49 contests and losing in the first round in 2024, then failing to make a postseason altogether in 2025.
Earning roughly $5.35 million next season, the three-time All-Star will be playing on one of the more valuable contracts in the association. On the heels of Beal’s buyout, it’s fair to wonder who now holds the distinction of the worst contract in the NBA. Jerami Grant, Paul George, Jamal Murray, and Joel Embiid come to mind. Nevertheless, all the aforementioned players, and to a lesser extent Grant, have a litany of career accomplishments. At least Grant proved to be one of the league’s most versatile defenders before evolving into a 20-point-per-game scorer.
Patrick Williams contract now might be the worst in the NBA
The Chicago Bulls roster includes a player who should certainly be in the running for the league’s worst contract. That would be Patrick Williams, who re-signed with the Bulls for five years and $90 million a season ago.
Although Williams’ $18 per season is drastically less than many other contenders for the league’s worst contract, he’s achieved quite less than just about any player earning a lucrative salary.
Williams holds career averages of 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.7 blocks, and 1.2 three-pointers per game. He’s a career 45.2 percent shooter from the floor and a 39.2 percent three-point marksman. While his counting stats are decent, he’s failed to live up to his draft status and hasn’t shown much, if any, improvement since being selected fourth in 2020.
Williams ranks 27th in win shares amongst his 2020 draft classmates. He ranks below Saddiq Bey, Tre Jones, KJ Martin, Paul Reed, Jalen Smith, and Xavier Tillman Sr. His career has ultimately been a disappointment, yet the Bulls still decided to re-sign the 6-foot-7 forward to a long-term deal.
At only 23 years old, with the forward unit in flux, there’s still time for Williams to turn it around. However, it might not be with the same franchise that drafted him. Williams has started 211 of a possible 276 games and has been granted a long leash, playing 24.8 minutes or more in every season of his career. All in all, Williams’ contention for the league’s worst contract will only strengthen if he continues to underperform with the Bulls.
