If Smart can provide some DPOY minutes and help Reed, it’s probably worth scooping him up. But I’m not seeing any reports that he’ll be bought out. Doesn’t he have another year on his deal?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6120862/2025/02/07/nba-buyout-market-tiers-2025/ With that said, let’s take a look at the buyout market from top to bottom. Note that not all these players will necessarily be bought out and that several of the top seven players, in particular, might not hit the market. TIER I: Guys who might genuinely make a difference 1. Bruce Brown, Pelicans The 28-year-old Brown is clearly the best player who potentially would be available and definitely has the deepest collection of cowboy and western gear. Having put together a solid string of games in Toronto before being sent to the Pelicans in the Brandon Ingram trade, he’s re-established some of his value after struggling with knee injuries the last two years. It’s not entirely clear if the Pelicans would buy him out, given that the Pels might want to keep him beyond this season and his early Bird rights would allow them to do so without needing cap space or exception money. On the other hand, New Orleans is deep into the Tanking Zone at 12-30. Also, note again that a reunion with the Nuggets is not possible due to their being over the first apron. 2. D’Angelo Russell, Nets Russell is helping a tanking team win slightly too often for everyone’s tastes, so one wonders if the Nets might look to give him his wings. On the other hand, they may value having his Bird rights into the offseason. Notably, he’d be a strong candidate to sign a balloon contract as Plan B for the Nets’ surfeit of cap space this summer. 3. Malcolm Brogdon, Wizards Brogdon has an expiring deal, and the Wizards are rebuilding; his shooting and secondary shot creation would be particularly appealing to teams light in backcourt. On the other hand, he’s constantly injured. Also, it isn’t clear if Washington would actually buy him out; the Wizards did a similar thing with Tyus Jones a year ago, keeping him on after not trading him at the deadline. TIER II: Back-end rotation guys 4. Chris Boucher, Raptors We don’t really know if the Raptors are coming or going, and it’s not clear the Raptors do either right now. However, if Toronto is serious about chasing ping-pong balls and doesn’t want or need to bring back the deep-shooting big man, he could help a contender’s frontcourt rotation. 5. Tre Jones, Bulls Jones isn’t a great shooter or an elite shot-creator, but as a game manager who can defend, pass and avoid mistakes, he’s proven quite solid over his five-year career. Added to the De’Aaron Fox trade as matching salary, he’s an iffy fit in Chicago. It’s possible the Bulls could keep him around as a sometimes backup point guard in their “chase” for the Play-In, and they have his Bird Rights this summer. On the other hand, never underestimate what the Bulls might do for a chance to save some money. 6. Larry Nance Jr., Hawks Nance has an expiring deal, but his Bird rights could be valuable to Atlanta; the Hawks have dropped hints about keeping him around beyond this season. However, he’s also currently out of the mix as the third center behind Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu and might yearn to play more meaningful basketball. 7. Ben Simmons, Nets The Nets are apparently working on a buyout with Simmons now and can finally dispense with trying to generate trade value for his stinker of a contract and get on with their lives. Simmons isn’t worth $40 million, but he’s a versatile player who can guard multiple positions, and on a minimum deal, he could help a lot of teams. 8. Mo Bamba, waived by Jazz The 26-year-old 2018 lottery pick is a frustrating player, but he can hit 3s, block shots and is still more productive than any of the other frontcourt options below. The Clippers threw him into the P.J. Tucker salary-dump trade, and he was given his wings by Utah. 9. Javonte Green, Pelicans A low-key useful energy guy on a one-year deal, Green might be an interesting target if the Pelicans don’t allow Brown to hit the market. A buyout would give the Pels some additional room below the luxury tax to fill roster spots with players who might have more of a future beyond this season. TIER III: Guys who have been there 10. Daniel Theis, waived by Thunder 11. Torrey Craig, waived by Bulls (signed with Celtics) 12. Monte Morris, Suns This one is more speculative, but Morris has vanished from the Suns’ rotation and might be interested in a different landing spot. He has taken DNPs in five of the last seven Suns games and has slumped to 30.4 percent from 3 on the season, but his overall level of play hasn’t been that bad. A lot of teams could use him as a third point guard, if nothing else. 13. Seth Curry, Hornets 14. Bojan Bogdanović, Nets He’s 35 and hasn’t played all season following offseason foot surgery, but Bogdanović had been targeting a return around the All-Star break. The veteran forward is a major defensive liability, but he can still get buckets. 15. P. J. Tucker, Raptors 16. Reggie Jackson, waived by Wizards Jackson is 34 and might be nearing the end of the line after falling out of Philadelphia’s rotation and being included in a salary dump with Washington. However, never underestimate the allure of a veteran guard to a team in need of an extra point guard. 17. Delon Wright, Knicks 18. Patty Mills, Clippers TIER IV: Young guys worth tracking 19. Jaden Springer, waived by Rockets Springer is an NBA-caliber defender who unfortunately has never shot consistently enough to carve out a role. While his career has moved in fits and starts on contending teams in Philadelphia and Boston that couldn’t spare on-court minutes for him, Springer had some decent outings for the Celtics just before the deadline. Alas, he was waived in a move to trim Boston’s luxury-tax bill. He has a good chance of landing on a rebuilding roster, one would think, especially if it’s a team that believes in its shooting coach. 20. Bones Hyland, Hawks It seems Hyland might be getting a chance to run the show as a backup when the Clippers sent him to Atlanta, but the Hawks GM not mentioning him in the press release announcing the trade is kind of a red flag that he might not be long for this roster. Hyland has shot-creation skill that the Hawks roster could use but has never been able to mesh that with acceptable defense or limited mistakes. 21. Wendell Moore, Jr., waived by Pistons I’d have Moore pretty high on my reclamation project list if I were a rebuilding team. He hardly got a chance in two years in Minnesota, and his 219 minutes in Detroit this year were pretty respectable across the board. Shooting looms as an issue, but Moore is a solid athlete with a strong frame, and he’s also two-way eligible. 22. Cam Reddish, Hornets 23. David Roddy, waived by Hawks 24. MarJon Beauchamp, Clippers 25. Johnny Davis, Grizzlies 26. Colby Jones, Wizards 27. Jalen Hood-Schifino, waived by Jazz 28. Caleb Houstan, Magic 29. Sidy Cissoko, SF, waived by Wizards 30. Patrick Baldwin, waived by Spurs TIER V: Everyone else 31. Josh Richardson, Jazz Richardson has struggled with injuries the last two years and only played eight games for Miami this season; his minimum deal was sent to the Jazz to help the Heat clear some room below the first apron for … more buyout guys! Reports indicate that Utah plans on waiving him. The veteran guard is still on the shelf with a troublesome heel injury and might be a more logical signing in the offseason once he can get right physically. 32. Alex Len, Wizards The veteran giant definitely lost some athletic juice this year, with his rebound rate slumping to just 13.7 percent and his usage rate to 9.5. One presumes the Wizards would like to see his roster spot filled by somebody a decade or so younger, so he’ll likely be on the market sooner or later. 33. Chris Duarte, waived by Bulls A 2021 first-round pick, Duarte is 27 and probably needs to head to Europe, getting only 74 minutes from the Bulls in his fourth season before being waived to create roster spots for incoming salary in the LaVine trade. 34. Vasilije Micić, Suns 35. Cody Zeller, C, waived by Rockets Zeller never showed up in Atlanta but still got to collect $3.5 million. What a league.
None of these guys are even remotely interesting. Out of this grab bag of garbage I would say Monte Morris could probably help us the most.
Alp is out. If Zeller not suiting up then Rockets need to sign another 5. Who else is avaliable other than Mamba?
Marcus Smart has another year - at a high salary - still on his deal. The Wizards aren't waiving him anytime soon.
The Rockets have the following centers on their roster: Alperen Sengun Steven Adams Jabari Smith (small ball) Jock Landale Jeff Green (small ball) N'Faly Dante (two-way) Cody Zeller I don't think they're signing another one.
