Marvin Bagley III (Memphis Grizzlies, C/PF, 26 years old) Remaining Salary: $12.5 million Bagley’s salary slides in right under the threshold for an apron team. Teams looking for frontcourt depth might be interested in bringing the veteran big man in for a rest-of-season look. Memphis could also keep Bagley, but they are flush in frontcourt depth as it is. This one screams traditional buyout scenario. Bojan Bogdanovic (Brooklyn Nets, SF/PF, 36 years old) * Remaining Salary: $19 million Bogdanovic hasn’t played this season, but teams know what he’s capable of. If the Nets move on because of a need for a roster spot (they have some interesting two-way conversion candidates in Tyrese Martin and Tosan Evbuomwan), Bogdanovic could be bought out or waived. At this point, contenders who need a shooter with size might take a look. Malcolm Brogdon (Washington Wizards, PG/SG, 32 years old) * Remaining Salary: $22.5 million Brogdon would normally be a great candidate for a buyout. Given that he can’t join any of the apron teams, Brogdon would need to have something lined up to join a non-apron contender. On Washington’s side, the Wizards already project to have cap space this summer. That makes Brogdon’s Bird Rights less valuable for them. But those Bird Rights are still valuable to Brogdon. He may not want to give them up. Bruce Brown (New Orleans Pelicans, SG, 28 years old) * Remaining Salary: $23 million Brown is being traded to the Pelicans in a deal that sends Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors. New Orleans is rebuilding and has high-priority players at Brown’s position. But the Pelicans don’t plan to stay down for long. That means Brown’s Bird Rights have value. Call this a 50-50 situation at best. Seth Curry (Charlotte Hornets, PG/SG, 34 years old) Remaining Salary: $2.1 million This one is really about if the Hornets need a roster spot or not. Moussa Diabate and K.J. Simpson are candidates to be converted to a standard contract from their two-way deals. If that happens, Curry could be a roster casualty. From there, Curry could head off to ring chase with a contender in need of some bench shooting. Reggie Jackson (Washington Wizards, PG, 35 years old) Remaining Salary: $2.1 million Jackson was moved to the Wizards in a salary-clearing move by the Philadelphia 76ers. There’s no real place for Jackson with Washington. He’s likely to be waived. From there, he could catch on with a playoff team that needs some backcourt depth. Tre Jones (Chicago Bulls, PG, 25 years old) Remaining Salary: $9.1 million Jones is a high-quality backup point guard. Teams are always looking for depth at that position. In addition, the Bulls have a bunch of other guards, including ones they have an investment in. Keep an on Jones popping free. Vasilije Micic (Phoenix Suns, PG, 31 years old) Remaining Salary: $7.7 million ($8.1 million team option for 2025-26) Micic is now caught up in a quagmire of point guards in Phoenix. The Suns aren’t likely to have a need for both him and Monte Morris as depth at point guard. That could see Micic set free. From there, it’s 50-50 if he’d sign with another NBA team or return back to Europe, where he was a star. Monte Morris (Phoenix Suns, PG, 29 years old) Remaining Salary: $2.1 million See above, then note: Morris has fallen out of the Suns rotation. He’s on a Veteran Minimum deal already, so there won’t be a buyout here. But if Phoenix thinks they have more of a need and need a roster spot. Morris could be a straight waiver candidate. He can still play, so a team in need of a point guard could sign Morris, or even claim his deal, given his Minimum status. Chris Paul (San Antonio Spurs, PG, 39 years old) Remaining Salary: $10.5 million We’re only including Paul because he’s been bandied about as a buyout candidate, given the Spurs acquisition of De’Aaron Fox. Don’t bet on that happening. The Spurs love what Paul has brought them. They think playing him and Fox together is fine for the rest of the season. If Paul did shake loose, he’d vault to the top of the available point guard rankings. Cam Reddish (Charlotte Hornets, SF/SG, 25 years old) Remaining Salary: $2.5M Reddish was thrown in to the deal that brought Dalton Knecht from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams. That was to get to the Lakers off some salary and to open a roster spot. Given all the injuries on the wing in Charlotte, Reddish could get a chance to play. This one will come down to if the Hornets need an open roster spot or not. If waived, Reddish could link up with a team that wants to see if they can finally pull the 3&D player out of the 25-year-old wing. Josh Richardson (Utah Jazz, SG/PG, 31 years old) Remaining Salary: $3.1 million Richardson is being moved to the Jazz for salary-matching/clearing purposes in the Jimmy Butler trade. He hasn’t been able to play much this season due to injuries. Utah doesn’t have a need for Richardson, especially given the injury issues. If Richardson is healthy, he could help a contender that needs a combo guard on their bench. Ben Simmons (Brooklyn Nets, PG, 28 years old) * Remaining Salary: $40.3 million Simmons is a possible buyout candidate, but a lot will depend on the Nets situation. If Brooklyn needs a roster spot (they have some interesting two-way conversion candidates), they could look to buy out or waive Simmons. There’s also a chance Brooklyn and Simmons would rather use his Bird Rights for something bigger this coming summer. Daniel Theis (Oklahoma City Thunder, C, 33 years old) Previous Salary: $2.1 million The Thunder waived Daniel Theis after eating his contract to help the New Orleans Pelicans get under the luxury tax. Oklahoma City wanted to open a roster spot to convert Ajay Mitchell to a standard contract. That’s where this likely heads eventually for the Thunder. P.J. Tucker (Toronto Raptors, PF, 39 years old) Remaining Salary: $11.5 million Tucker is probably going to get straight waived by the Raptors, without a buyout. It’d be surprising if any team signs him, because Tucker hasn’t played in nearly a year. At this point, the veteran forward epitomizes the “more name than game” philosophy. Delon Wright (New York Knicks, PG, 33 years old) Remaining Salary: $2.1 million Wright is about the eighth point guard on the Knicks. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. He could be set free to join a team where he’d see more time. However, Wright lost his role as the Milwaukee Bucks backup point guard this season. There might not be much left in the tank here. Lonnie Walker IV (Zalgiris (Lithuania), SG, 26 years old) Remaining Salary: N/A We’re adding Walker here, because there is considerable interest in him from NBA fans. Walker has an NBA out with Zalgiris that has to be triggered by February 18, per reports. If triggered, Walker would presumably be signing a rest-of-season minimum deal. However, it’s worth noting that Walker has struggled against EuroLeague competition. He’s shot 38.5% in 18 EuroLeague games, including 33.6% on three-pointers. For a player whose primary value is his shooting and scoring, that’s worrisome for a potential return to the NBA. Rocket River
Marcus Smary could be bought out by the Wizards...former Udoka player and would be perfectly fit for our backup pg position
