Clippers, Bradley Beal, Suns, Nets, Terance Mann, Bucks, Kevin Porter Jr.

Clippers

New Clippers guard Bradley Beal’s departure from the Suns wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.

Buyout negotiations between Beal and Phoenix got “heated,” according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, with the two sides initially struggling to agree on just how much money Beal would leave on the table to make the deal work under league rules.

In the end, Beal agreed to give up $13.9 million, the minimum required to make the buyout legal. That allowed Phoenix to execute a waive-and-stretch provision on the remainder of his contract, turning a $99 million payout into five years of $20 million cap hits.

The Suns had reportedly hoped for more.

“Talks went back and forth and got heated, sources said,” Windhorst wrote. “Ultimately, Beal left the least amount possible to make the waiver work, to the penny.”

Beal will now sign a two-year, $11 million deal with the Clippers, joining a core that includes James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, John Collins and Ivica Zubac.

The former Wizards star appeared in 106 games with the Suns, averaging 17.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Phoenix went 55-51 with him in the lineup, but fell flat in the 2024 playoffs (0-4) and missed the postseason entirely in 2025.

Beal, a three-time All-Star, has career averages of 21.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Neither he nor the Clippers have reached the NBA Finals. That, of course, is the hope.

Nets

Guard Terance Mann is ready for a new chapter, as in one where he’s no longer the young guy in the locker room.

Acquired by the Nets from the Hawks as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade, Mann is expected to help lead a rebuilding Brooklyn group loaded with rookies and younger players. The Nets’ real motivation in the deal was to snag an extra first-round pick, which they used on forward Drake Powell.

Mann, 27, is now the oldest player on the roster.

“It’s definitely new for me coming from the Clippers, where guys were a lot older than me,” he told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “But I’m excited to embrace the journey, taking these guys under my wing, showing them how to be professionals.”

Mann has three years and $47 million left on his contract. He appeared in 67 games combined for the Clippers and Hawks last season.

Bucks

The NBA has wrapped up its investigation into Kevin Porter Jr.’s domestic violence incident from September 2023. The result? A four-game suspension.

But Porter won’t actually miss any games.

Per The Athletic’s Law Murray, the league determined that Porter effectively served the suspension during his full-season absence in 2023–24. He was waived by the Thunder shortly after being traded there from the Rockets. He later hooked up with the Clippers before Milwaukee acquired him in February.

Porter re-signed with the Bucks on a two-year contract at the start of free agency. He averaged 11.7 points in 30 games with the Bucks.

Porter was arrested in September 2023 following an altercation with his then-girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick. He was initially charged with felony counts of assault and strangulation.

In January 2024, Porter reached a plea deal in Manhattan Criminal Court, agreeing to reckless assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor, and harassment in the second degree, a violation.

Several weeks after the arrest, Gondrezick publicly disputed how prosecutors had described the incident. In comments to The New York Post, she said Porter “never balled his fists up and hit me” and “definitely didn’t punch me in the face numerous times.”