Taking a closer look at the seven best early-season NBA buyout candidates
Every season we can expect NBA teams to shake up their rosters throughout the season. A major aspect of the in-season player movements are the contract buyouts.
Every year a few of these buyouts manage to make a different on a playoff team or a team looking to make a playoff push. Here are a few of the early buyout candidates for this year’s class.
J.R. Smith, Cleveland Cavaliers
Possible Destinations: Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies
Best Fit: Detroit Pistons
Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith currently finds himself in a situation that doesn’t meet his basketball needs. As a 15-year NBA veteran and a member of the 2016 NBA Finals winning Cavs leaves Smith’s career not aligning with the current state of the Cavs.
After losing LeBron James in the off-season, the injury to Kevin Love led to the dismissal of coach Ty Lue. Now, the team is clearly headed towards a long rebuild. That’s not something Smith wants to be a part of.
Smith can still be very valuable to a hand full of NBA teams, especially for teams that are going to be positioning for the playoffs all season. Teams like the Grizzlies and Pistons could find Smith talents very useful for their respective post-season goals.