The father-son game behind the 110 million buyout fee, analyzing the entire process of Sun being "legal robbed" by the broker

Bradley Bill joined the Clippers at a price of $11 million in two years. Los Angeles fans are happy, and the Suns behind them need to pay a buyout fee of $110 million.

From the perspective of outcome theory, this operation is rare in the NBA, but it is not without it. But the reason why Bill's agent was brought out is that the weirdness of this operation was not the huge buyout amount, but also the trader behind Mark Bartelstein (Bill's agent). His negotiating opponent is his son, Suns CEO Josh Batelstein.

This is not an ordinary buyout negotiation, but it is actually more like a capital harvest between father and son.

1. How did Batelstein legally rob the sun?

Even if the Suns failed to make the playoffs, they were very hesitant about buying out Bill during the offseason operation. Even though Durant decided to leave, at the beginning of the offseason, a source revealed that the Suns were considering continuing to let Bill and Booker continue to partner in the new season, but not long after, news about the Suns considering buying out Bill was spreading.

That's right, this is a very useful way for the agent to play public opinion. If the Suns choose to buy out Bill, even if they buy out at a discount and join a team with a middle-class contract or even a basic salary, as long as they play well, then Bill has a chance to get a bigger contract in 2026.

Discount buyout + basic salary contract basically covers Bill's 110 million contract (the 11 million yuan joining the Clippers in two years is a little loss, but it is not harmful). If you sign a larger contract in 2026, the extra money will be in vain. Since you are not so happy in the Suns, both players and agents certainly prefer the buyout option.

However, when the Suns and Bills' buyout negotiations were deadlocked, various "intentional" rumors emerged in the league, such as the Lakers were willing to provide middle-class signing of Bills, the Warriors, Clippers, Bucks were interested in Bills, etc.

These news quickly boosted Bill's popularity, and of course, these popularity did not help with buyouts or transactions. But the strange thing is that the buyout amount is, the huge contract of $110 million, Bill is only willing to give up $13.8 million, which is just a small fraction. For a team that is eager to buy out and join a team with the ability to win the championship, isn't this a robbery or something?

Behind this, if the negotiations between Batelstein and his son were not selfish, I am afraid no one would believe it.

2. Did Bill buy out plan last season?

If we want to investigate more carefully, then some abnormal reactions of Bill may have already shown signs of buying out in advance during the 2024-25 season.

The most typical example is that the Suns' Big Three have poor compatibility. When someone wants Bill to change his playing style and even let him play the sixth man, Bill said very toughly that he will not change his playing style. But now joining the Clippers with $11 million in two years, with so many top scorers in the team, Bill's team status will decline. He may be the fourth (Kar, Harden, Zubac) star in the team, and his playing style will inevitably change.

Basically, it can be believed that Bill was willing to come to the Clippers with a luxurious lineup to change his playing style, but he was so tough when the Suns had Durant and Booker. Compared with the Clippers' adaptive process, it was a bit intriguing.

They are of course the most passive for the Suns. Bill has the right to trade veto, which means that he can basically be suffocated in his hands.

But it is really rare to buy out contracts with a 10% discount. This is a typical operation of a typical player (or agent) in countering the team. But for the Suns, it's really a loss. Bill has two years to expire in his contract and may be ruined. But Bill can't wait for two years later. A team is really tough and can choose to suffocate him directly into the team's negative assets. When Bill can't stand it and is willing to discount more, he will buy it out.

So, why is it so easy for the Sun to negotiate a buyout?

3. He is a stronger ace agent than Fu Paul. Among NBA agents, most people know Ritchie Paul, but the reason why Fu Paul is famous is mainly because of James. The Bartelstein family is the top NBA agent. The NBA was suspended in 2011, and Batelstein took the lead in disbanding the Players' Union. He joined forces with several agents to collect signatures of more than 200 players, and eventually forced the investors to make concessions.

NBA CEO David Stern once angrily accused his agent of greed, believing that they are a combination of lies and greed, taking their own interests more than players, and always trying to mess up the agreement. Indeed, the NBA has been greatly affected by the labor-management agreement, but for senior workers like players, their play has indeed gained real benefits. The agent Stern cursed secretly was led by Batelstein.

The early NBA was basically the only one with the team. Starting from James, we entered the era of super players' empowerment, superstars began to control their destiny and even forced the team to do things.

As a top star like James, of course, he is qualified to force the team, but no one expected that a player like Bill, who is not even a first-tier star, would have a day to counter the team. When we negotiated a contract extension with the Wizards, the veto of the transaction was the precious legacy left by Batelstein in the negotiations. At that time, in order to retain talents, the Wizards were forced to accept no option to get the maximum salary for Bill to stay in the team. Now this option has become the culprit to wipe out the Suns' last breath.