Is it necessary to give away and not leave or cut off Bill? Is it necessary to completely rely on the sun?

Translator's note: This article was originally published from TheAthletic, and the author is FredKatz. The data in the article are as of the original article as of June 28, local time. The views in the article have nothing to do with the translator and the platform.

Can Bradley Bill's farce end at some point?

The Phoenix Suns are trying hard to find a new home for Bill. The current situation—whether in terms of championship prospects, player personality adaptability or financial situation—is continuing to deteriorate. As a player obtained by the Suns through trades two seasons ago, Bill's contract is currently two seasons left, with a total amount of up to $110 million.

Now, all possibilities have surfaced. The Suns can try to trade Bills as they did in the season that just ended, but the trade veto he held still poses a barrier. According to a league source familiar with Bill's ideas, the situation is exactly the same as before the 2025 trade deadline: Bill is willing to accept the right deal that can send him to a suitable destination, but he is more inclined to stay in Phoenix, even though the team only won 35 games last season and just traded Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets last weekend, completing the relegation of the roster.

Since leaving Washington in 2023, Bill's wife and children first moved from the District of Columbia to Los Angeles, and then moved his family to Phoenix before the start of the season. To play for another team, Bill will face two options: either drop out of school and relocate his family again, or completely separate from his family—either situation would have made him interested.

So the Suns had to try another strategy. According to reports from local Phoenix media, the Suns are considering laying off Bill and using extended terms to deal with its contract. Although this move may seriously weaken the Suns' future operational flexibility, it can help them keep their salaries below the second rich line in the 2025-26 season. Of course, buying out and deferring payments will allow the Suns to sack Bill and share his remaining $110 million in salary to five years instead of two years, thereby reducing its annual salary cap to about $22 million - but the premise is that Bill is willing to give up some of his salary, which is obviously contrary to his style of conduct. There is a special provision in the labour agreement to prevent teams from arbitrarily cutting off players and using extended clauses. And in this case, the Suns will be the victim of the regulations.

In any season, the total extended salary on the books of a team shall not exceed 15% of the salary cap for that year. The salary cap is expected to be $154.6 million next season, and Bill's extended salary (the $22 million mentioned above) will account for 14.3% of that value.

However, the problem lies in the previous operations of the Suns, who shot themselves in the foot.

In August 2024, the Suns cut and extended two players - Nassir Little and E.J. Liddell. Although these operations did not attract much attention at the time (and the two had strangely similar surnames), it seems that the impact of these actions should not be underestimated.

Little's salary will be kept on the Suns' books until the 2030s, and Lidle's salary will last for the next two seasons. In the 2025-26 season, the Suns will have to pay a total of $3.8 million in dead money for these two players. If the dead money is added to the cut of Bill, the total amount will exceed 15% of the salary cap next season.

Therefore, if the Suns want to sack Bill, they must convince him to agree to abandon the substantial part of the contract - transferring $2.7 million a year over the five-year extension period, totaling $13.8 million.

Bill may be able to make back the money (or maybe even more) after entering the free market. I asked several executives in the league who thought the market value of Bill would be if he became a free agent. Everyone's consensus is that his salary may be at the middle class special level, with a starting salary of $14.1 million in the 2025-26 season. But according to league sources, although some teams with championship or extremely attractive team environments will make Bill excited, he does not want to leave his family or disrupt their lives.

This means that the situation of the Suns and Bill is not much changed compared to when the Suns were inquiring around the league and trying to find a next home for Bill who is willing to accept him and can afford his huge contract. Despite constant rumors from the outside world, the Suns were still far from seeing Bill off at that time. And now, unless a key element of this farce changes, they still have difficulty making substantial progress.