While last week's trade deadline received more attention, for good reason, another important deadline arrives tonight. If a player is currently on an NBA roster, he must be waived by 11:00pm CT if he hopes to play for another team in the postseason. Players waived after today can still be picked up by other clubs, but won't retain their postseason eligibility.
With just a few hours left until this deadline, speculation has increased that Chris Kaman could receive a buyout from the Hornets, allowing him to join another team for the playoffs. However, as we've heard a couple times already, New Orleans seems inclined to hang on to Kaman. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) that the two sides still aren't discussing a buyout.
The NBA-owned Hornets are holding firm to that positon, Stein adds, which makes sense — Kaman could potentially have an impact on the NBA Finals if he were to sign with a team like the Heat, Bulls, or Thunder, which wouldn't look good for the league. According to Stein, however, Kaman's camp isn't pursuing a buyout either. Stein says that perhaps Kaman, who faces unrestricted free agency this summer, prefers to put up big numbers for the Hornets to preserve his free agent value (Twitter links).
With a few hours remaining until tonight's buyout deadline, perhaps this situation changes, but for now it appears Kaman will remain in New Orleans for the rest of the season.
Wouldn’t Kamen be better off asking for the buyout, sign with a playoff team, and improve his value that way? Playoffs, to me, would be better exposure.
Not really. Say he goes to the Heat on a buyout, now he’s playing a much less role and maybe getting 8-10 points and rebounds per as opposed to grabbing 20-10. He’s much better off in New Orleans.