The 2021 buyout market set off one of the more needless controversies in recent NBA history.
There was genuine fear that Griffin forcing his way out of Detroit with multiple years left on his deal would ignite a firestorm of unhappy veterans doing the same, yet the only analogous player in 2022 would be John Wall, who thus far has not even considered a buyout.
The majority of players to seek buyouts will be declining veterans with expiring contracts on bad teams. A few surprises will join them in free agency as casualties of the trade deadline.
The Magic took on a bad contract, gave him all of the minutes and shots he wanted and will likely now be rewarded with assets.
If nothing else, Phoenix should offer the injured Dario Saric as matching salary along with a second-round pick, and there will be stronger offers.
He is the first true failure of Oklahoma City’s veteran rehabilitation program, struggling on both ends of the floor and failing to garner any trade interest as more than an expiring salary.
The only real holdup here is that Lopez is so cheap at $5 million that some interested party could pretty easily just swoop in at the deadline and trade for him.
You’re not going to find a better shooting big man on the buyout market than Muscala, who’s hitting nearly 43 percent of his 3s this season.
Plus, let’s be honest, this front office probably isn’t eager to hand the Lakers a DeAndre Jordan upgrade after all of the bad blood that followed the aborted Buddy Hield trade in July.
Nothing about this is all that surprising, but if the Hawks have no interest in developing Knox, they’d probably be better served letting him sign with a team that wants to give him some run.
The Thunder would then presumably buy him out and allow him to sign with a contender, and there would be no shortage of candidates.
The Lakers are going to clear a roster spot or two before the deadline dust settles, and the easiest way to do so would be by trading Jordan and/or Bazemore.
Of course, the Pacers refuse to tank, so their preference might be retaining the option to bring him back in the offseason, so on balance, his Bird rights are probably more valuable to them than the cash they’d keep by buying him out.
The Heat are probably deep enough at guard with Victor Oladipo coming back that they wouldn’t pursue Dragic, but they would be Dallas’ primary competition if they did try to bring him home.
Brooklyn is trying to find a new home for Millsap on the trade market, but the end result here is probably going to be a trade in which the Nets send out cash or a pick just to get him off their roster.
Aside from the impact that would have on him as a player, you could make a compelling argument that it actually hurts his future earning power as well.
He’s no longer a primary option on a good team or perhaps even a starter on one, but he’d be an extremely valuable player on the right bench for 20-25 minutes per night.