The NBA buyout market is in full swing.
Now that the NBA trade deadline has passed, contending teams are looking at veteran players who have or will be bought out by their current teams. The Cleveland Cavaliers have picked up Deron Williams after he cleared waivers from the Dallas Mavericks. And the Inquisitr has reported that the Golden State Warriors are interested in grabbing Jose Calderon if he is able to secure his release from the Los Angeles Lakers.
There is no way to tell how many other player’s contracts will be bought out by March 1, which is the last day that players can be released and be playoff eligible with their new team. One player that is drawing a lot of interest is Philadelphia 76ers center Andrew Bogut.
Bogut, whom the Sixers acquired from the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 23, wants to become a free agent and has yet to report to the team. Following his acquisition, Adrian Wojnarowski of T he Vertical tweeted that the Sixers would entertain the possibility of buying out the 32-year-old Aussie.
Sources: Barring unlikely landing spot by 3 PM ET, Andrew Bogut, 76ers beginning to engage on buyout talks. Bogut wants to be free agent.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 23, 2017
While there is no real news on the progress of a potential buyout, several teams have contacted Bogut’s representatives about his pending availability according to Shams Charania of The Vertical . Charania said that the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs and the Cavs are the teams that have looked Bogut’s reps up.
Of those five teams, the Jazz has the most cap space available to convince Bogut to join them at $13.64 million. The Rockets are the only team, of the five, with a current open roster spot to go along with $3.54 million in cap space. The Celtics are under the salary cap by $1.1 million. The Spurs and Cavs are over the cap.
Golden State can re-acquire Bogut but has yet to give any indications that they will attempt to do so. The Warriors are currently over the salary cap.
Bogut has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, and this year has been no different. The seven-footer has appeared in just 26 games, averaging 3.0 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 46.9 percent from the field. Despite his injuries, he is still an outstanding rebounder and interior defender.
Tim McMahon of ESPN is currently reporting that the Mavs expect Bogut to sign with Cleveland once he hits the open market. If that is the case, the Cavs will have to release a player as they will be at 15 players once Deron Williams signs with the team on Monday.
Derrick Williams is the most likely player to be let go as he is on his second, 10-day contract with the team, meaning Cleveland will have to sign him for the rest of the campaign if they don’t release him. Williams has been terrific with the Cavs reaching double-figures three times and averaging 9.5 points while shooting 54.3 percent from the floor. Jordan McRae, DeAndre Liggins, and James Jones would also be candidates to be released.
Briante Weber
Weber became a free agent after the Warriors decided to not sign him for the rest of the season on Saturday night. Chris Haynes of ESPN tweeted that he will join the Charlotte Hornets on a 10-day pact.
Charlotte to sign guard Briante Weber to 10-day contract, league sources tell ESPN. Weber recently completed two 10-days with Golden State.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 26, 2017
Charlotte had an open roster spot and a need at backup point guard with Ramon Sessions sidelined with a torn meniscus. Weber is the second player on a 10-day contract as the Hornets inked forward Johnny O’Bryant to a 10-day contract on Friday. Those two players replace Ray McCallum and Mike Tobey whose 10-day contracts expired.
Quinn Cook And Ben Bentil
The Dallas Mavericks have signed point guard Quinn Cook and forward Ben Bentil to 10-day contracts, the team announced .
Per @MavsPR , the @dallasmavs signed rookie forward Ben Bentil to a 10-day contract.
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) February 26, 2017
Cook, who was named the MVP of the D-League All-Star game, has been terrific with the Canton Charge this season. The 23-year-old averaged 26.6 points and 6.7 assists while 47.7 percent from the field for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate.
Bentil has played in China and with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers D-League affiliate, this season after being released by the Celtics in the preseason. Bentil averaged 14.5 points along with 5.0 rebounds in 21 games with the Mad Ants. He can play both forward spots.
Dallas had two open roster spots after trading Justin Anderson and Bogut to the Sixers for Nerlens Noel. The Mavericks also opened a roster spot by waiving Deron Williams.
[Featured Image by Jim Mone/AP Images]
