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The NBA as a whole is still processing what happened at the trade deadline last week. It still doesn't seem real to see Luka Doncic in a Los Angeles Lakers jersey. Nonetheless, love is in the air across the league this Valentine's Day with the All-Star Weekend festivities and teams continuing to search the NBA buyout market for talent they adore.
Ben Simmons and the LA Clippers are the latest romance from the buyout market, as the two sides officially put pen to paper on a contract after he was bought out by the Brooklyn Nets. Veteran wing Torrey Craig also has a new home after being waived by the Chicago Bulls, as he finds himself suddenly in a chase for a title with the defending champion Boston Celtics.
Compared to previous years, this buyout market is thin with very limited options. Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Lowry, Daniel Theis, and Delon Wright were impactful veterans who found themselves on new teams after the trade deadline as a result of buyouts. This year, those types of veteran talents to round out a team's bench don't exist.
One of the main reasons for this is how the NBA's financial situation has changed. As a result of the first and second aprons, many teams around the league are extremely cautious with their contracts. The apron rules also don't allow these teams to sign bought-out players who were previously making a salary more than the $12.8 million mid-level exception. Not to mention, many teams are currently hard-capped, making it extremely difficult to make midseason changes.
There are also concerns from the players' side of things and how their agents handle buyout situations. In the past, it was normal for players in the final year of their respective contracts to negotiate buyouts to join a contending team if their current team wasn't positioned to make the playoffs. While this is still somewhat common, many agents don't want their players being waived out of fear that such a move will hurt their upcoming free agency.
By leaving their current team and taking a minimum contract for the remainder of the season, the rest of the league now views such talents as minimum contract guys. Instead of being valued as a player who could receive half of or all of a team's mid-level exception, those who are bought out of their contracts essentially decrease their worth.
This is all a big mind game between players and teams regarding future negotiations, as many organizations are now attempting to add talent to their rosters solely using minimum-like contracts around their max-level players.
With this said, there are teams that are still looking to make some quick additions before the March 1 playoff eligibility waiver deadline, and some notable veterans remain potential buyout candidates to keep track of.
Latest NBA buyout market rumors
Over one week has passed since the NBA trade deadline and yet almost no action has occurred on the buyout market. Alex Len is the most recent player to find a deal with a new team after being waived, as he joined the Los Angeles Lakers after their failed Mark Williams trade.
That situation with Williams is such a mess for Los Angeles, as he was supposed to be their young center for many years to come. Due to a failed physical, Williams isn't joining the Lakers, and despite the Charlotte Hornets' protest, there is nothing that can really be done about this situation.
Anyway, only Len, Simmons, and Craig have agreed to new deals on the buyout market. Several teams, including the Golden State Warriors, are still exploring the possibility of adding talent to their roster.
After trading for Jimmy Butler and converting Quinten Post's two-way contract to a standard deal, the Warriors have 12 players on their active roster. Once action resumes after the All-Star break, Golden State won't have long to reach the 14-player minimum requirement, meaning they'll be looking to add at least one player on the buyout market.
The Warriors are being patient when it comes to filling out the back end of their roster since they are just $1.3 million below the first apron hard cap and will need to be smart about bringing in players with prorated contracts to remain under this line.
There are quite a few players who would make a whole lot of sense for the Dubs to add. Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown, Chris Boucher, Malcolm Brogdon, Tre Jones, and Bojan Bogdanovic are all notable players who could instantly help the Warriors or other teams around the league in their pursuit of making the playoffs.
The only problem is that almost all these veterans are expected to stay where they are.
Brown and Olynyk won't be bought out after being traded to the Pelicans in their Brandon Ingram deal with the Toronto Raptors. David Griffin, New Orleans' VP of Basketball Operations, confirmed this in a press conference after the trade deadline. Speaking of the Raptors, it doesn't appear as if Boucher will be going anywhere either.
Along with Golden State, the Clippers and Denver Nuggets made calls to Toronto about Boucher before the trade deadline.
Brogdon is staying with the Washington Wizards, as are Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart, and the Chicago Bulls don't really have a reason to want to waive Jones at this very moment. If Jones were to be bought out, he would instantly become a key playmaking point guard who could help various playoff-contending teams.
Bogdanovic is the only player from this grouping who makes sense to be bought out. The 35-year-old forward is set to become a free agent in the summer and the Nets just agreed to a buyout with Simmons. However, Bogdanovic hasn't played at all this season due to left foot and left wrist surgery in the offseason.
A clean bill of health would make Bogdanovic an intriguing option for any team wanting additional bench shooting, but there is still no clear timetable on the veteran's eventual return to basketball activities.
One name to keep a close eye on is former 2018 first-round pick Lonnie Walker IV, who has an escape clause in his EuroLeague contract with Zalgiris until Feb. 18, according to Marc Stein. Walker could be an interesting addition for any team looking for extra scoring at the shooting guard position.
That is basically where the buyout market is entering the NBA All-Star break. Expect to see a few more players be waived near the end of February, especially before that playoff eligibility deadline.
Along with the Warriors, both the Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers are one player below the roster minimum requirement. These two organizations are not restricted by any apron rules and will be allowed to pursue any player who clears waivers.
Cleveland held strong interest in Simmons before he eventually opted to sign with the Clippers.
NBA All-Star Weekend predictions
All-Star Weekend in the NBA officially began once that final horn went off between the Clippers and Utah Jazz on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
In addition to the new format for this year's All-Star Game featuring four teams playing to a target score of 40 points, the mini-events that everyone loves are back. The Kia Skills Challenge, Starry 3-Point Contest, and AT&T Slam Dunk Contest will take place on Saturday, with the Rising Stars spectacle happening on Friday night in San Francisco.
This year, the Rising Stars Challenge is important because the winning team will be the fourth All-Star team to participate on Sunday against the league's best. Which team will advance, who will win all the events, and most importantly, who will take home the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award?
Rising Stars Predictions
Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Jeremy Lin are the four coaches for the Rising Stars. While anything is possible, Lin's team is made up of seven G League players. It would be shocking if they were the team to advance to All-Star Sunday.
The two teams that will likely meet one another in the championship game are Team M (Richmond) and Team T (Hardaway). In the end, Team M has arguably the most versatile talent led by Ausar and Amen Thompson. These two brothers have a chance to be stars in the league for a long time to come, and showcasing their talents in the actual All-Star Game would be quite the sight.
Kia Skills Challenge
Four teams will be participating in the Kia Skills Challenge: Team Cavs (Donovan Mitchell & Evan Mobley), Team Rooks (Alex Sarr & Zaccharie Risacher), Team Spurs (Chris Paul & Victor Wembanyama), and Team Warriors (Draymond Green & Moses Moody).
The crowd will be backing Draymond Green and Moses Moody in this competition since they are the hometown team. But Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama will be taking home the crown as the Skills Challenge champions.
Team Spurs has the quickness, agility, and shooting abilities to record the fastest time through all of these obstacles. Paul is always competitive with everything he does, and the veteran guard will lead Wemby to a victory during All-Star Weekend.
Starry 3-Point Contest
This year's 3-Point Contest is going to be interesting. Damian Lillard is going for the three-peat in this event, something only Craig Hodges and Larry Bird have ever achieved. Will Lillard be adding his name to the list?
It seems like he is the clear favorite right now, but do not count out Tyler Herro and Buddy Hield. Herro has become a much more dangerous spot-up shooter who could thrive in the 3-Point Contest environment. For Hield, he will have the crowd behind him and he won the event in 2020.
Although Hield is the Warriors player in the event, Lillard is from Oakland and will have plenty of fans in the stands cheering him on. Give Dame D.O.L.L.A. his third 3-point shooting championship.
AT&T Slam Dunk
Many aren't too enthusiastic about who is participating in this year's dunk contest. Look, I get it that everyone wants to see guys like Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and Anthony Edwards partake in this event, but this generation of players, especially superstars, don't want to risk getting injured.
We have to respect this decision, whether we like it or not, and embrace the young generation that is willing to step up and try to make a name for themselves. Mac McClung is looking to become the first back-to-back-to-back Slam Dunk Contest champion, as he will go up against Andre Jackson Jr., Stephon Castle, and Matas Buzelis in what should be an interesting event.
Call me crazy, but McClung isn't going to make it to the final round. Instead, this dunk contest will come down to Castle and Jackson, two high-flying, athletic players with a lot of bounce in their steps. There is something about Castle that screams Slam Dunk Contest potential, and I think we will finally see that in this event.
This is going to be the moment everyone looks at Castle and claims he has star potential after winning the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest in San Francisco.
2025 NBA All-Star Game & MVP picks
The 2025 NBA All-Star Game will be unlike anything we've seen. Four teams, one of which features the Rising Stars winner, will battle it out in a three-game mini-tournament format with the first team to 40 points being victorious.
As a result, scoring matters. When you look at Team Shaq, scoring is all you see with legends like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and Damian Lillard. Each of the last three All-Star Game MVPs is on this team, and five of the last seven overall. This team is going up against Candace Parker's Rising Stars team, so we might as well pencil Team Shaq in the championship game.
If Team Kenny is going to take down Team Charles, they will need to make this a track meet. As good as Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, and the other young stars on this team are, it's hard to see them having what it takes to defeat the firepower of Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Victor Wembanyama.
So, if it ends up being Shaq versus Charles in the final, this will be exactly what the NBA wants: Old-school superstars up against the new-school stars set to take over as the faces of the NBA. Perhaps the older stars will run out of gas and the young guns like Gilgeous-Alexander and Donovan Mitchell will be able to take over.
Then again, the NBA All-Star Game is in San Francisco, and Curry isn't going to go down without a fight. We have seen him go off during All-Star Weekend so many times, and we should expect nothing different from Steph in his house. After all, LeBron and others will be feeding him the ball with the game on the line, just like what happened in the Summer Olympics.
Kevin Durant is a sneaky play here for All-Star Game MVP if Shaq's team does win, but I'm going with Curry to win his second All-Star Game MVP and hit the final dagger three of the game before hitting his iconic “Night Night” celebration.
This is going to be a really fun All-Star Weekend filled with great competitions and a format that is going to be surprisingly pleasant to watch.
