Soon after the Hornets traded Hakim Warrick to the Bobcats for Matt Carroll this week, Carroll and New Orleans began talks about a buyout for the swingman, who's making $3.5MM in the final season of his deal. Lang Greene of HoopsWorld reports the Hornets had been engaged in buyout discussions for Warrick, too.
Warrick, who's making $4MM this year on a contract with a team option for another $4MM next season, had trouble fitting into Hornets coach Monty Williams' style of play, according to Greene. He played in only one regular season game for New Orleans after averaging 14.4 minutes per game in 35 contests for the Suns last year. Warrick came to the Hornets as part of the Robin Lopez trade this summer.
It's not entirely clear why New Orleans seems so intent on engineering a buyout. The Hornets have about $63.941MM in salary commitments this season, so a buyout for Warrick wouldn't have gotten them under the $58.044MM salary cap, just as a buyout for Carroll wouldn't. The team has 14 players on the roster, 12 of whom have fully guaranteed deals.