NBA: The 7 best early-season buyout candidates

NBA Houston Rockets Trevor Ariza (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)
NBA Houston Rockets Trevor Ariza (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)
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NBA
NBA Chicago Bulls Robin Lopez (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Robin Lopez, Chicago Bulls

Possible Destinations: Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards

Best Fit: Golden State Warriors

The Chicago Bulls recently fired Fred Hoiberg after the team got off to one of the worst records in the NBA this season. Hoiberg tried and failed to find a balance between the veteran players on the Bulls roster and the young developing players. Caught up in that mix up was and is the 11-year veteran Robin Lopez.

Lopez, now with the Bulls changing leadership this early in the season, is a prime candidate to be moved out of Chicago. Lopez could potentially be very valuable for any of a few good teams in the Western Conference. A team to be on the look out for obtaining Lopez talents could be defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors have a need at center since losing JaVale McGee in the off-season to the Lakers and then starting Damian Jones to an injury early in December. While many project this won’t be a issue when newest addition DeMarcus Cousins returns from injury sometime in January, we still can expect Cousins not to be 100 percent healthy and able to log heavy minutes at Center even for the remainder of this season given the nature of his recovery.

Lopez is a selfless player that offers excellent defense and rebounding in addition to being a good passer and great at setting screens on the offensive side of the ball.