Top NBA Buyout Candidates After Trade Deadline

Thursday’s NBA trade deadline was an extremely active one. Nearly every one of the league’s 30 teams were involved in trades of varying shapes and sizes. The Anthony Davis blockbuster headlined the action of the week, but there were plenty of impactful moves involving smaller names, from the Warriors’ Kristaps Porziņģis swing to the Pacers’ risky acquisition of Ivica Zubac that included their 2026 pick (top-four protected).

The NBA’s transaction season isn’t over yet, though. With all the movement around the deadline every year, there are a handful of players who (sometimes unexpectedly) wind up free agents afterwards via buyout or being waived. Teams choose to move on from these players for a multitude of reasons. Some were part of a larger deal and don't fit into the vision of the team. Others have zero desire to play for their new teams and both parties are willing to move on. Others still were hoping to get traded and didn’t, leading to a parting of ways.

Whatever the motivation it leads to a group of (usually veteran) players who are suddenly available to sign with any team. They rarely end up making a difference in the race for a championship, to be fair, but there’s still value to be found for teams up and down the contending spectrum when it comes to the buyout market.

Here are the top candidates to get bought out by their new teams and enter midseason free agency.

Top NBA buyout candidates

Chris Paul, Raptors

Paul’s exodus from the Clippers was finally completed on Wednesday as Los Angeles shipped out the future Hall of Fame point guard to the Raptors as part of a three-team deal with the Nets. Mere minutes later reports emerged Toronto doesn’t expect Paul to report to the team and the two sides would explore another trade before the deadline. That, of course, never materialized, which means a buyout is all but inevitable.

At 41 years old and with plans to retire at the end of the year, Paul doesn’t have much to offer on the court, averaging a few points per game coming off the bench for the Clippers earlier this season. And given his role as an end-of-bench veteran presence went so poorly his team sent him home, other teams may not be chomping at the bit to bring him aboard. But he’s still CP3 and if he wants to play (which is a pressing question) he’ll have suitors who hope he can offer some wisdom before his career ends.

Lonzo Ball, Jazz

The eldest Ball brother was traded by the Cavaliers to the Jazz in the wake of the James Harden-Darius Garland swap. It was quickly reported afterwards Utah planned to waive the veteran point guard and he would enter the market as a free agent soon; that became official on Thursday night.

It’ll be interesting to see where Ball ends up. He was in and out of the rotation by the end of his Cleveland tenure because his shooting numbers fell off a cliff. At the time of the trade, Ball was averaging 4.6 points per game on 30% shooting from the floor and a putrid 27% from three. He’s still a good passer and largely passable defender despite multiple knee surgeries, but players with those numbers will be completely ignored by opposing defenses. Ball isn’t likely to be scooped up by a playoff team looking for him to take up some minutes, but as he’s still only 28 years old there’s a chance Ball can use the rest of this season as a launching pad to bounce back. If anything, a reunion with his brother LaMelo in Charlotte would be fun.

Cam Thomas, Nets

Thomas was actually the first player to enter the pool this year post-deadline. Six minutes after the deadline passed the Nets waived the young scoring guard, freeing him to sign wherever he pleases. Thomas had been in trade rumors for a while in Brooklyn; he’s a talented scorer but doesn’t offer much else, and his small stature means he’s a total minus defensively. It made for a poor fit with coach Jordi Fernandez, and now another team will have the chance to mine Thomas’s potential.

Which team that will be is unclear for now. In theory, Thomas could provide quite a bit of value as a sparkplug for any contending team as a player who has proved capable of scoring 20 points per game in multiple seasons. But he needs to dominate the ball to score and can compromise the entire defense if he isn’t putting the effort in. Thomas makes for a more complicated fit than most other buyout candidates, but will likely be getting plenty of calls.

Mike Conley, Hornets

Conley bounced around a bit at this year’s deadline, first getting traded to the Bulls by the Timberwolves before winding up in Charlotte with the Hornets as part of the Coby White trade. Subsequent reports tagged Conley as an all-but-certain candidate to hit the free agent market, and it appears to be headed in that direction. The veteran point guard’s production fell off in his age-38 season in Minnesota and with the Wolves looking to compete for a title they opted to move on for a better option in the form of Ayo Dosunmu.

Conley’s profile is similar to Paul’s. He’s been a very good point guard for a very long time, but no longer has the gas to play important minutes for a good team. He is, however, widely lauded as a wonderful veteran presence and that will likely drive his buyout interest. A reunion with Minnesota seems possible given how beloved he became there.

Chris Boucher, Jazz

Boucher carved out role as a dependable stretch forward in Toronto over the last seven years before signing with the Celtics in free agency this past summer. But things didn’t work out. He never really made a case to be part of coach Joe Mazzulla’s rotation and only saw the floor in garbage time over the last three months. Thus, Boston shipped him to Utah for tax-saving purposes and it was soon reported afterwards the Jazz planned to waive him, which they officially did on Thursday night.

Boucher is probably the most useful player on this list, and the easiest to integrate into a modern NBA lineup. Last year with the Raptors, the Oregon product played 17 minutes per game off the bench and hit 36% of his three-point tries, setting a career-high with 10 points per game. That’s perfectly fine production for the ninth or 10th man on an NBA roster, even if he doesn’t offer much by way of rebounding or defense. Boucher could find himself back on the floor soon for a team with thin frontcourt depth.