Hoops Rumors Originals

Over the last month, several teams headed for the lottery have bought out and/or waived veteran players, allowing them to seek out new opportunities with playoff-bound clubs. Some of those players gave up some money to incentivize the arrangement for their old teams, while others were simply released outright.

Listed below is our round-up of the players who were bought out and/or waived, along with several players who were candidates to receive buyouts but ultimately stayed put.

While it’s still technically possible that players from that second group could be cut, they’ll no longer be playoff-eligible if they’re released now and sign with a new team down the stretch.

Veteran players who were bought out or released in February or on March 1 (chronological order):

• Greg Monroe, C: Waived by Suns; signed with Celtics.
• Quincy Pondexter, G/F: Waived by Bulls.
• Willie Reed, C: Waived by Bulls.
• Tony Allen, SG: Waived by Bulls.
• Marco Belinelli, SG: Waived by Hawks; signed with Sixers.
• Josh McRoberts, PF: Waived by Mavericks.
• Derrick Rose, PG: Waived by Jazz.
• Brandan Wright, F/C: Waived by Grizzlies; signed with Rockets.
• Joe Johnson, F: Waived by Kings; signed with Rockets.
• Ersan Ilyasova, PF: Waived by Hawks; signed with Sixers.
• Trevor Booker, PF: Waived by Sixers; signing with Pacers.
• Corey Brewer, G/F: Waived by Lakers; signing with Thunder.
• Shabazz Muhammad, SF: Waived by Timberwolves; signing with Bucks.

Buyout candidates who remained with their current teams (alphabetical order):

• Arron Afflalo, G/F (Magic)
• Vince Carter, SF (Kings)
• Mario Chalmers, PG (Grizzlies)
• Dante Cunningham, F (Nets)
• Channing Frye, PF (Lakers)
• Jarrett Jack, PG (Knicks)
• Brook Lopez, C (Lakers)
• Joakim Noah, C (Knicks)
• Nerlens Noel, C (Mavericks)
• Marreese Speights, F/C (Magic)

As we’ve noted in several stories leading up to today, March 1 is the last day that a player can be waived and retain his playoff eligibility for a new club. Any player released after Thursday night at 11:59pm ET can still sign with another NBA team once he clears waivers, but he wouldn’t be able to participate in the postseason with his new club.

While these rules are fairly clear for players on standard NBA contracts, how exactly do they affect players on two-way contracts? Let’s take a closer look…

Players on two-way contracts aren’t eligible for the postseason.

We’ll start with the simplest rule — a player on a two-way contract can’t play for his team in the postseason, even if he hasn’t used up his full allotment of 45 NBA days. A two-way player can travel and practice with the team during the playoffs, but has to remain on the inactive list during games.

Two-way players waived after March 1 aren’t eligible to play in the postseason for a new team.

The same waiver rules that apply to players on standard NBA contracts apply to players on two-way deals when it comes to playoff eligibility. If a player on a two-way contract isn’t waived by the end of the day today, he won’t be eligible to join another team for the postseason.

While these first two rules significantly restrict the ability of two-way players to participate in the playoffs, it’s still possible for a player who is on a two-way contract through Thursday to play in the postseason.

A player on a two-way contract who has his contract turned into a standard NBA deal by his current team any time up until the last day of the regular season can play in the postseason for that team.

Clippers guard Tyrone Wallace is only on a two-way contract, but he has been a key contributor to the team’s recent success — L.A. is 8-4 in games Wallace has started.

If the Clips want to ensure they’ll have the rookie available in the event they earn a playoff spot, they can convert Wallace’s two-way deal into a standard NBA contract anytime between now and the end of the regular season — it doesn’t need to be done today. Assuming he remains on his two-way deal through today though, he wouldn’t be eligible to play in the postseason for any team besides the Clippers.

Of course, the Clippers would need to have room on their 15-man roster to convert Wallace’s contract, but right now that wouldn’t be a problem, since they’re carrying just 14 players on standard NBA deals.

[RELATED: 2017/18 NBA Roster Counts]

While these eligibility rules for two-way players shouldn’t create problems for most of the league’s 30 teams, there are at least a handful of clubs that will have decisions to make before season’s end. In order to make a player on a two-way contract available for the postseason, a team will have to convert that player to a standard NBA deal by April 11.

For more information on how two-way contracts work, be sure to check out our full glossary entry.

Due to an early trade deadline this season, the buyout market was active sooner than usual, with a handful of players released by their respective teams before the All-Star break. Greg Monroe, Joe Johnson, Marco Belinelli, and Brandan Wright are among the veterans who were bought out and quickly caught on with new teams earlier in February, and Ersan Ilyasova appears set to join them on that list soon.

There are still several more candidates for buyouts around the NBA, but if those buyouts are going to happen, it will have to be soon. For a veteran player hoping to leave a lottery-bound team to play for a contender, March 1 is a key deadline. A player waived after that date won’t retain his playoff eligibility if he subsequently signs with a new club.

As such, we could see another small flurry of buyout activity happen this week — if those buyouts aren’t completed on or before Thursday, they probably won’t happen at all this season.

Here are five players who are candidates to be bought out or released outright in the coming days:

1. Jarrett Jack, PG (Knicks): A starter for 56 of the Knicks‘ first 59 games this season, Jack has yet to play a single minute since the All-Star break. Finding minutes for young point guards Frank Ntilikina and Emmanuel Mudiay will be a top priority for head coach Jeff Hornacek down the stretch, and Jack won’t even be third in line for minutes, with Trey Burke also in the mix. While the Knicks may value the veteran’s leadership abilities in the locker room, it would make sense to let him go if there’s a playoff-bound team out there with interest in signing him.
2. Arron Afflalo, SG (Magic): Afflalo’s 12.8 MPG and 3.2 PPG are career-worsts, and his one-year minimum salary contract makes him very unlikely to be part of the long-term plans in Orlando. The veteran swingman has been just as effective as ever from three-point range this year though — his .386 3PT% is identical to his career rate. That should appeal to some teams in need of outside shooting, including perhaps the Raptors.
3. Shabazz Muhammad, SF (Timberwolves): Muhammad was said earlier this month to be seeking a trade or a buyout, and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has said his team is willing to accommodate the forward’s departure. However, Muhammad’s second-year player option complicates matters. Minnesota would likely want him to give back that money as part of a buyout, and it’s not clear if the 25-year-old is willing to do that. Given how much he’s struggled this season (3.8 PPG, .388/.211/.710 shooting line), Muhammad isn’t necessarily a lock for a guaranteed contract in free agency this summer, so he may be reluctant to give up that guaranteed player-option salary.
4. Trevor Booker, PF (Sixers): Booker’s name hasn’t really come up in buyout rumors this month, but his roster spot may be in jeopardy. Philadelphia is said to be Ersan Ilyasova‘s preferred landing spot for when he finalizes a buyout with the Hawks, and the Sixers have a full roster, meaning someone will have to go. Booker, one of the few players on the roster with an expiring contract, has averaged just 15.0 minutes per game since joining the 76ers earlier this season and plays the same position as Ilyasova. There’s no guarantee that Booker will be the odd man out if and when the Sixers sign Ilyasova, but he’s definitely a candidate.
5. Joakim Noah, C (Knicks): If Muhammad’s $1.8MM guarantee for next season qualifies as a roadblock in his potential buyout with the Timberwolves, what does that make Noah’s $37.8MM in future guarantees? We’ve written at length about Noah’s situation since he left the club last month, so we won’t go into extensive detail again. But it’s clear there’s no real win-win solution for the Knicks and Noah, who would welcome a fresh start but doesn’t want to give up a significant chunk of money. Even if their relationship is all but over, it would still be somewhat surprising to see the Knicks and Noah get a buyout done this week — both sides can probably afford to wait out the situation in the hopes of eventually gaining more leverage.

The 2018 NHL Trade Deadline is today at 2pm CT, and our sister site Pro Hockey Rumors will be busy bringing you breaking news and analysis. Make sure to jump into the conversation during their special live chat, or just follow along with all the trade talk throughout the day.

Will Erik Karlsson actually be traded today? Do the New York Rangers continue their fire sale and send Ryan McDonagh to a contender? Is Evander Kane going to land a big package for the Buffalo Sabres?

Visit Pro Hockey Rumors and be sure to follow on Twitter @prohockeyrumors.

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