We’ve been telling you this was coming.

Not long after Michael Beasley’s latest arrest for marijuana possession, our own Brett Pollakoff laid out how the Suns could use the stretch provision to lessen their hit in letting Beasley go. Then as part of the recent Caron Butler trade we told you that cleared out just shy of $6 million in cap space, again lessening the hit if the Suns let Beasley go. There have been a lot of reports that owner Robert Sarver had just had enough and wanted to cut ties.

Now it is official — the Suns have waived Michael Beasley. This was a mutual decision as Beasley took a $7 million buyout ($2 million off what he was owed) to make the deal happen.

“The Suns were devoted to Michael Beasley’s success in Phoenix,” Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said in a statement released by the team. “However, it is essential that we demand the highest standards of personal and professional conduct as we develop a championship culture. Today’s action reflects our commitment to those standards. The timing and nature of this, and all of our transactions, are based on the judgment of our Basketball leadership as to how best to achieve our singular goal of rebuilding an elite team.”

“We have high standards for all of our players,” said Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough in the same statement. “We expect them to represent the team and the community in a positive manner both on and off the court.”

Marc Stein at ESPN had reported minutes before this was coming.